The Washington Post (3/25, Hicks) “Federal Eye” blog reports that the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) “announced plans to relax the agency’s” 40 mile rule for Choice Cards dictating “how far patients must live from the nearest VA medical center before the government pays for treatment at a closer private facility.” The original guideline determined 40 miles to be a straight line, “or as the crow flies, from the nearest VA clinic,” while the revised guideline will “instead measure the distance in driving miles, as calculated by commercial mapping services,” including Google Maps and MapQuest. VA Secretary Robert McDonald said in the announcement, “We’ve determined that changing the distance calculation will help ensure more veterans have access to care when and where they want it.”

Related Links:

— “VA to change 40-mile rule for Veterans Choice program,”Josh Hicks, The Washington Post, March 24, 2015.

Kaiser Health News (3/24, Gillespie) reports that a study (3/24) published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests that “for every dollar spent on treating depression, almost five dollars is spent on the treatment and workplace costs of related medical conditions like back and chest pain, sleep disorders and migraines – placing a greater financial burden on businesses and the health care system” in the US. The study “used data from adults 18 to 64 diagnosed with major depressive disorder in 2005 or 2010 from an OptumHealth claims database and from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” Robert Roca, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s council on geriatric psychiatry and who was not involved with the study, “says the gradual integration of mental health care into primary care means more people may be diagnosed early and treated. ‘The ACA sets the stage for this kind of integration effort, and I’m optimistic that we’ll see benefit down the road.’”

Related Links:

— “Depression, Related Ailments Take Their Toll On The Workplace, Study Finds,”Lisa Gillespie, Kaiser Health News , March 23, 2015.

NPR (3/23, Aubrey) reports in its “Shots” blog on new research that suggests that the “black and white” thinking that there are “alcoholics and everyone else” is being challenged. Dr. John Mariani, a Columbia University researcher, “says that the thinking has evolved, and that the field of psychiatry recognizes there’s a spectrum.” Furthermore, “the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has a whole list of tips aimed at cutting down — everything from drinking tracker cards that you can keep in your wallet to help you track your drinking when you go out, to strategies for handling urges.”

Related Links:

— “Rethinking Alcohol: Can Heavy Drinkers Learn To Cut Back?,”Allison Aubrey, NPR, March 23, 2015.

The CBS News (3/23) website reported that today’s marijuana is “more potent by far than the weed sold a generation ago, according to new data being presented Monday at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).” Charas Scientific researcher Andy LaFrate, PhD, said, “I would say the average potency of marijuana has probably increased by a factor of at least three. We’re looking at average potencies right now of around 20 percent THC.” The National Institute on Drug Abuse “says the potency of marijuana has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, but a level of 20 or 30 percent THC is even greater than the institute has reported in the past.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana far more potent than it used to be, tests find, The CBS News, March 23, 2015.

The Boston Globe (3/27, Schworm, Rocheleau) reports that a statement “by authorities that the copilot of a Germanwings flight deliberately crashed the airliner into the French Alps on Tuesday is renewing questions about whether the aviation industry does enough to screen for mental illness.” Some experts now “argue for a more rigorous system,” given “the enormous stress of the job and the hundreds of lives at stake.” Most airlines “conduct psychological testing during the hiring process, experts said, and applicants that show signs of instability are quickly weeded out,” but once pilots have been hired, they “undergo yearly medical exams that do not include psychological tests.”

Related Links:

— “US system has scant mental health scrutiny,”Peter Schworm and Matt Rocheleau, The Boston Globe , March 26, 2015.

The Hill (3/21, Marcos) “Floor Action” blog reported that the Medical Evaluation Parity for Service Members Act, introduced in the House of Representatives last week, “would require new military recruits to undergo a mental health assessment.” The two sponsors of the measure, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), “said it would help the military identify behavior issues early before they manifest into serious psychological problems like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Companion legislation has been introduced into the Senate by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

Related Links:

— “Bill would require mental health evaluations of new military recruits,”Cristina Marcos, The Hill, March 20, 2015.

The AP (3/20, Warren) reports that across the US, “as police face increased scrutiny for violent encounters…many of which involve people with mental illnesses, law enforcement and advocacy groups are pointing to how the nation treats” people with mental health disorders, noting “a revolving door of emergency room visits and incarceration that they say is ineffective and costly.” While “police crisis intervention efforts and diversion courts are helpful in stemming the violence,” mental health professionals “on the front lines say states need innovative programs and more must be done to” provide preventive “care to curtail explosive moments of crisis.”

Related Links:

— “Police Shootings of Mentally Ill Reveal Gaps in Care,”David Warren, AP, March 19, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (3/20, Zarembo) “Science Now” blog reports that a study published online March 19 in the journal European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry suggests that “California high school students who have a parent in the military are far more likely than those from civilian families to have recently attempted suicide,” with “11.7%” of those students saying they had tried to commit suicide within the past year. The study’s “findings are based on a survey of ninth and 11th graders at 261 schools across the state” and include data “collected in 2012 and 2013.” The study takes into account only attempted suicides, not completed ones.

Related Links:

— “Military children more likely to have a history of suicide attempts,”Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2015.

HealthDay (3/20, Reinberg) reports that a study published online March 19 in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that “children conceived through assisted reproductive technology [ART], such as in vitro fertilization, are twice as likely to have autism as those conceived without assistance.” Investigators “only found an association, which may be explained by multiple births and other risks, not the infertility treatment itself, experts said.”

Medical Daily (3/20, Dovey) reports, “The study is the largest to date to investigate the relationship between ART and autism, and involved 5,926,251 live births, including 48,865 infants conceived via ART and 32,922 cases of autism diagnosed by the [California] Department of Developmental Services.” The article also points out, “Individuals with autism are categorized with social impairments and behavioral patterns, according to the National Institutes of Health.”

Related Links:

— “IVF Kids May Have Higher Odds of Autism, Study Finds,”Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, March 19, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (3/20, Kaplan) reports that a study published in the March issue of the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, a publication of the CDC, suggests that “jobless adults under 25 were three times more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with jobs.” About “12% of Americans between ages 18 and 25 were deemed to be depressed based on their answers to eight questions that were part of a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments.” However, “within this age group, those who were unemployed were 3.17 times more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with jobs.”

Related Links:

— “For younger adults, unemployment may triple the risk of depression,”Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2015.