Psychiatric News (3/6) reported, “People with a psychotic disorder and opioid use disorder (OUD) are as likely to stay in methadone treatment for OUD as those with other psychiatric disorders,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from 415 adults with OUD enrolled in community-based outpatient methadone maintenance treatment across Ontario.” The study revealed that “81% of the patients with psychotic disorders remained in treatment for OUD at 12 months, a rate comparable to the 84% of patients with nonpsychotic disorders.” The findings were published online March 2 in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— “Patients With and Without Psychotic Disorders Have Similar OUD Treatment Rates, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, March 6, 2020

The Washington Post (3/5, Horton) says that for decades the Department of Veterans Affairs has “unlawfully turned away thousands of veterans with other-than-honorable discharges, rendering some of the most vulnerable veterans invisible and desperate for help, according to a” report (PDF) from the Veterans Legal Clinic at Harvard Law School. The article says that “systemic misunderstanding of the law within VA about which veterans it should care for – and which should be denied services – has triggered improper mass denial of care since 1980, the Veterans Legal Clinic at Harvard Law School said in the study, leaving an estimated 400,000 more at risk of never gaining access to health care they may have earned.”

Related Links:

— “Requires subscription, The Washington Post, March 5, 2020

Healio (3/5, Gramigna) reports, “The current body of research regarding psychedelics has produced insufficient evidence to recommend FDA approval of any psychedelic compound for routine clinical use in psychiatric disorders,” research indicated, but investigators “noted the need to further study the efficacy of psychedelics for treating psychiatric disorders.” Included in the medical literature review study were “14 articles that reported on well-designed clinical trials investigating the efficacy of LSD, MDMA, psilocybin and ayahuasca for the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, substance-related and addictive disorders, and trauma and stress-related disorders, as well as in end-of-life care.” The findings were published online Feb. 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Psychedelics appear promising for treating psychiatric disorders, but more research needed, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 5, 2020

MD Magazine (3/5, Walter) reports, “The response rate of antidepressant medications can be low when pharmacogenomics are not taking into account for patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD),” researchers concluded after examining “the success of guided-care compared to common treatment for major depressive disorder in a 24-week, randomized, controlled” study called “The Genomics Used to Improve DEpression Decisions (GUIDED) trial.” The study “included 1167 outpatient diagnosed with” MDD. The findings were published last April in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Pharmacogenomics Effective for Major Depressive Disorder Patients, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, March 5, 2020

The Washington Post (3/4, Dreier) reports that on March 4, “seeking to end a practice that one senator called a ‘profound betrayal of trust,’ legislation was…in the Senate and House of Representatives to stop the Trump administration from using confidential therapy notes against immigrant children in detention and deportation proceedings.” This “legislation is one of several efforts underway to protect the confidentiality of young asylum-seekers launched after The Washington Post reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been regularly using notes from therapy sessions against unaccompanied minors, often without the consent of the therapists involved, and always without the consent of the minors themselves.”

Related Links:

— “Bill would end practice of using confidential therapy notes against detained immigrant children, “Hannah Dreier, The Washington Post, March 4, 2020

The AP (3/4, Perrone) reports that on March 4, the FDA “banned electrical shock devices used to discourage aggressive, self-harming behavior in patients with mental disabilities.” The agency’s announcement “follows years of pressure from patient groups and mental health experts who have called the treatment outdated, ineffective and unethical.”

Reuters (3/4, Joseph) reports that in its “final decision,” the FDA cited “substantial risks of illness or injury to patients.” The FDA’s “decision comes after the devices were found to cause tissue damage and worsen underlying symptoms, leading to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

According to MedPage Today (3/4, Gever), just one clinic in the US “is believed to use this form of ‘aversive therapy,’ the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts, where the FDA said it believes some 45 to 50 people ‘are currently being exposed’ to the treatment.” The FDA’s ban, however, “does not apply to electrical stimulation devices used for other ‘aversive’ therapies, such as those approved for smoking cessation,” nor are “non-aversive electrical stimulators, such as for cranial electrotherapy,” affected by the ban.

Related Links:

— “FDA bans shock device used on mentally disabled patients, “Matthew Perrone, AP, March 4, 2020

Healio (3/4, Gramigna) reports, “Suicide risk is higher at night than any other time of day,” investigators concluded in a study that “found no significant variation in this risk by method, month or demographic characteristics.” For the study, the study team “collected time, date, method and demographic information for 35,338 suicides included in the National Violent Death Reporting System between 2003 and 2010,” then “compared the estimated hourly proportion of the population awake from the American Time Use Survey for 2003 to 2010 with the time of fatal injury, which was grouped into one-hour bins.” The study revealed that “across all months and methods, risk for suicide was higher at night.” The findings were published online Feb. 25 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk significantly elevated at night, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 4, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/4) reports, “The risk of suicide among physicians who are women appears to be higher than women in the general population,” investigators concluded. Investigators “found that women physicians were 46% more likely than women in the general population to die by suicide.” In contrast, “men physicians were 33% less likely than men in the general population to die by suicide.” The findings of the nine-study meta-analysis and systematic review were published online March 4 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Meta-Analysis Spotlights Challenge of Physician Suicide, Psychiatric News, March 4, 2020

Health Exec (2/28, Baxter) reported on the fifth annual healthcare industry survey from InCrowd, in which “physicians cited affordability and access to healthcare as the top concerns for the industry.” In addition, “they’re more concerned about these issues in 2020 compared to 2019.” InCrowd “polled 200 generalists and specialists between Dec. 30, 2019 and Jan. 2, 2020.”

Related Links:

— “Affordability, access are top healthcare concerns for physicians, “Amy Baxter, Health Exec, February 28, 2020

HealthDay (3/3, Preidt) reports, “Teens who are bullied about their weight are at increased risk for alcohol or marijuana use – and this is especially true for girls,” researchers concluded after surveying “more than 1,300 students at five public middle schools in Connecticut.” The findings were published online Feb. 10 in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Related Links:

— “Being Bullied About Weight May Raise Risk of Drug Use, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 3, 2020