The AP (7/15, Johnson) reports according to preliminary data released by the CDC, “nearly 71,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, a new record that predates the COVID-19 crisis, which the White House and many experts believe will drive such deaths even higher.” The AP adds “the trend is driven by fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids, which accounted for 36,500 overdose deaths,” but “deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine also are rising.”

Politico (7/15, Ehley) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “New peak of 71K US overdose deaths in 2019 dashes hopes, “Carla K. Johnson, AP, July 15, 2020

MD Magazine (7/14, Walter) reports, “While all signs point to esketamine as an effective medication for those suffering from treatment-resistant depression, the cost might be too high to really make a dent in this patient population,” investigators concluded in a study that “estimated the cost-effectiveness of esketamine to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression.” The modeling study revealed that “ultimately, it is unlikely that esketamine ends up as a cost-effective option to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression in the US unless prices for esketamine decrease by more than 40%.” The findings were published online July 7 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Esketamine Effective and Costly Treating Treatment-Resistant Depression, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, July 14, 2020

The Wall Street Journal (7/13, Smith, Subscription Publication) reports that mental-health professionals say that, among some Black Americans, perceptions of therapy are beginning to change, particularly for those in younger generations. Former APA deputy medical director Annelle Primm is quoted by the Journal.

Related Links:

— “For Some Black Americans, Therapy Is Gradually Losing Its Stigma, “Ray A. Smith, The Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2020

MedPage Today (7/13, George) reports, “Delirium was linked to long-term cognitive decline in both” hospitalized “surgical and nonsurgical patients,” investigators concluded. The 23-study meta-analysis revealed that “patients who experienced an episode of delirium were more than twice as likely to show long-term cognitive decline than patients without delirium.” The findings were published online July 13 in JAMA Neurology.

Psychiatric News (7/13) reports, “The circumstances of the delirium (following anesthesia, trauma, infection, and so on) did not affect the odds of future cognitive decline,” thereby suggesting that “the underlying mechanisms of delirium may be similar and possibly associated with inflammatory processes common to both surgical and nonsurgical contexts, the investigators noted.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (7/13, Davenport, Subscription Publication) reports, “Although patients with bipolar disorder commonly experience depressive symptoms, clinicians should be very cautious about treating them with antidepressants, especially as monotherapy, experts asserted in a recent debate on the topic” that took place during the virtual European Psychiatric Association 2020 Congress. During the Congress, “psychiatric experts said that clinicians should also screen patients for mixed symptoms that are better treated with mood stabilizers.” In addition, “these same experts…raised concerns over long-term antidepressant use, recommending continued use only in patients who relapse after stopping antidepressants.”

Related Links:

— “Caution Urged for Antidepressant Use in Bipolar Depression, “Liam Davenport, Medscape, July 13, 2020

Healio (7/10, Schaffer) reported, “A cohort of French women currently taking any antidepressant medication were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes [T2D] during six years of follow-up compared with nonusers, independent of severe depressive symptoms,” investigators found after analyzing “data from 63,999 women without type 2 diabetes at baseline.” The findings were published online June 16 in the journal Diabetic Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants elevate risk for type 2 diabetes, “Regina Schaffer, Healio, July 10, 2020

The Washington Post (7/10, Kornfield, Wan) reports the success of a safe injection site in the US “has prompted calls for policymakers to start considering solutions that focus on reducing harm and deaths rather than traditional law enforcement and punishment.” Experts are saying “they fear that if the country doesn’t intervene, this year will bring a wave of fatalities driven by pandemic-related isolation, unemployment and changes to the drug supply.” The piece mentions that “Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse…said it is also important to understand the effect the pandemic is having on those who use drugs.”

Related Links:

— “America needs to reduce soaring overdoses. A secret supervised injection site may show us how., “Meryl Kornfield and William Wan, The Washington Post, July 10, 2020

Newsweek (7/9, Gander) reports that research suggests “the stress of living through the COVID-19 pandemic may be associated with a rise in” stress cardiomyopathy.
NBC News (7/9, Sandoval) reports that investigators “looked at the medical records of 1,914 patients at two hospitals in the Cleveland Clinic health system from five eight-week periods, four of which occurred before the pandemic and the other since then.” Prior to “the pandemic, there were, on average, five to 12 cases in an eight-week period, but in the cohort observed during the pandemic, the number rose to 20.” The researchwas published in JAMA Open Network.

Related Links:

— “Stress Caused by COVID-19 May Have Triggered Rise in Broken Heart Syndrome, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, July 9, 2020

Modern Healthcare (7/8, Livingston, Subscription Publication) reports some states that have expanded access to telehealth during the pandemic have taken steps “to make those changes permanent.” For example, “Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Monday that expands telehealth access by barring insurers from requiring that patients have a pre-established relationship with a virtual care [professional] or imposing additional location, certification or licensure requirements on [professionals] as a condition for telehealth reimbursement.”

Related Links:

— “Some states cement COVID-19 telehealth expansions, “Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare, July 8, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/9) reports, “COVID-19–associated discrimination disproportionately impacted members of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States in March and April, and those individuals experienced increased mental distress,” investigators concluded in a 3,665-participant survey that revealed that “the overall percentage who said they had experienced COVID-19–associated discrimination doubled from 4% in March to 10% in April.” Researchers also found that “Asian Americans were at higher risk of COVID-19–associated discrimination in March, and the risk of COVID-19 discrimination among Black individuals increased from March to April.” The findings were published online July 6 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Racial, Ethnic Minorities in United States More Likely to Experience COVID-19 Discrimination, Psychiatric News, July 9, 2020