CNN (11/19, Silverman, Alsup) reports five lawsuits were filed against JUUL this week, claiming its “advertising campaigns target young people to use nicotine without knowing the associated risks by enticing them with flavor pods.” The suits “were filed…by the states of California and New York, two Washington state counties and a school district.”

The Hill (11/19, Weixel) reports the New York complaint alleges “JUUL’s advertising and social media posts misled consumers about the content of its products by failing to warn that they contain nicotine.” JUUL faces “numerous state and federal investigations about the role it played in what public health officials have called an ‘epidemic’ of youth vaping.”

CBS News (11/19) reports “New York’s lawsuit comes one day after California filed its complaint,” which alleges “that JUUL had a marketing plan that described their target customer and the targeted customer had common characteristics of teenagers and young adults.” CBS News says, “The mounting litigation against JUUL comes in the same week that President Donald Trump has reportedly backpedaled on his intentions to ban most flavored e-cigarettes.”

Also covering the story are ABC News (11/19, Schumaker) and NBC News (11/19).

Related Links:

— “At least five lawsuits have been filed against e-cigarette company Juul this week for allegedly targeting minors, ” Hollie Silverman, CNN, November 19, 2019

The AP (11/19, Ehrmann) reports, “New safety standards aimed at limiting suicide risks have led to overhauls inside hospitals around the country, with psychiatric facilities and wards removing bathroom doors, stripping artwork from walls and requiring patients to wear paper gowns instead of their own clothes,” changes that “have forced costly renovations and caused a backlash, with some critics contending they’ve made hospital rooms feel more like jail cells.” American Psychiatric Association President Bruce Schwartz, MD, said, “We’re buying the same furniture and plumbing fixtures as prisons and jails,” measures that are “creating harsher environments in psychiatric facilities,” according to the AP. The AP adds that the current “length of stay for psychiatric patients at a psychiatric facility is seven to 10 days, according to the APA.”

Related Links:

— “Hospital psychiatric wards now feel like prisons, some say, “Chris Ehrmann, AP, November 19, 2019

Healio (11/19, Gramigna) reports research appears to underscore “the significantly higher costs for privately insured adult patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder [MDD] and suicide ideation/attempt than adults without MDD.” Investigators arrived at this conclusion after examining data on “2,061 patients aged 18 to 64 years with MDD and suicide ideation/attempt using Optum Health Care Solutions database of privately insured patients.” The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy – AMCP Nexus 2019.

Related Links:

— “Patients with MDD and suicide ideation/attempt experience significant health care costs, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 19, 2019

Newsweek (11/18, Gander) reports, “Two thirds of parents” surveyed “in the U.S. say they feel there are barriers to them recognizing their child has depression.” In the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 40 percent “of the nationally representative sample of 819 parents, who lived with a child aged between 0-18 years old…said they might find it hard to tell normal changes in moods from symptoms of the mental illness.” Thirty percent “said children were good hiding their feelings.”

Related Links:

— “Two Thirds Of Parents Say Barriers Like Mood Swings Could Make It Hard To Spot Depression In Their Kids, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, November 18, 2019

Psychiatric News (11/18) reports, “Women with schizophrenia are only half as likely as women in the general population to receive mammograms,” researchers concluded in an 11-study meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online Nov. 14 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Many Women With Schizophrenia Do Not Receive Mammograms, Meta-Analysis Suggests, Psychiatric News, November 18, 2019

“Fewer” physicians “would have to wait for permission to prescribe addiction treatment” medications “under new, bipartisan legislation being unveiled this week by two lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee,” STAT (11/18, Facher) reports. The new bill, as written by Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY) and David McKinley (R-WV), would ban “the practice of ‘prior authorization,’ in which insurers require doctors to seek approval before they can proceed with a prescription or procedure,” in state “Medicaid programs for addiction treatment medicines like buprenorphine.” The measure “comes amid part of a broader movement to expand addiction treatment as the overdose crisis continues to claim roughly 70,000 American lives each year.” STAT adds, “In a 2017 survey conducted by the American Medical Association, 64% of physicians reported waiting at least a day for authorization to prescribe addiction” medications.

Related Links:

— “A new bill would let more doctors prescribe addiction treatments without waiting for insurers’ permission, ” Lev Facher, STAT, November 18, 2019

The Dallas Morning News (11/19, Smith) reports that “more needs to be done to provide mental and behavioral health services for children – especially those living in poverty,” according to Children’s Health annual report examining “the quality of life for kids in six North Texas counties.” In Collin and Dallas counties, the report found “the number of children receiving mental health diagnoses through Medicaid managed care has more than doubled in recent years.” The report noted that “funding for child-specific mental health services has decreased from 2016-17 to 2018-19,” while “child mortality and adolescent suicides are on the rise, with Dallas County experiencing a 27% increase in adolescent suicides in 2016.” This is the first year in the report’s “16-year history” where a specific recommendation was made to target mental health specifically.

Related Links:

— “With suicide rates and child mortality on rise in Dallas, experts urge for more help for kids’ mental health, “Corbett Smith, The Dallas Morning News, November 18, 2019

The AP (11/15, Tanner) reported, “Many older American adults may inaccurately estimate their chances for developing dementia and do useless things to prevent it,” research indicated.

HealthDay (11/15, Norton) reported that “almost half of Americans in their 50s and 60s believed they were at least ‘somewhat likely’ to develop dementia,” the study found. Only five percent, however, “said they had talked to their doctor about ways to lower their risk,” the study indicated. The survey found that one-third instead reported to take “fish oil, vitamin E or other supplements to help ward off memory decline,” despite the fact that “none have been proven to have such benefits.” The findings of the 1,019-adult study published online in a research letter in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Will you get dementia? Many may not understand their risk, “Lindsey Tanner, AP, November 15, 2019

Dr. Bruce Schwartz, the president of the American Psychiatric Association, writes in a letter to the editor of the Washington Post (11/17) in response to an article from November 12 with the headline “ERs could help curb suicides.” Dr. Schwartz says, “Screening can be an effective way to identify patients with mental-health problems, but it is unlikely to halt the suicide epidemic in this country.” Additionally, “emergency rooms have become the de facto and only mental-health resource for many Americans, even those who have insurance.” Schwartz argues “the article correctly pointed out that once in the emergency room, mental-health patients can wait 24 hours or longer to see a health-care professional and days or weeks for a psychiatric bed,” however, in order to “truly stem the suicide epidemic,” Schwartz says, “we need to devote resources to mental-health care” and “mandate that insurers provide true parity in their plans.”

Related Links:

— “Can ERs help fight the suicide epidemic?, The Washington Post, November 17, 2019

Reuters (11/14, Carroll) reports, “Slight declines in hearing, smaller than the usual cutoff for diagnosing hearing loss, are associated with measurable mental decline in seniors,” research indicated, and when investigators “used a stricter threshold to include mild hearing loss, they found evidence that the well-established link between age-related hearing loss and cognitive decline might begin sooner than is recognized.” The findings of the 6,451-participant study were published online Nov. 14 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. MedPage Today (11/14, George) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Hearing loss, even when mild, linked to mental decline in seniors, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, November 14, 2019