The Hill (11/3, Choi) reported drugmakers “have agreed to increase their production of stimulant medications like Adderall to help address the ongoing shortage in the U.S., with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) making changes to its quota process.” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said the agency contacted 18 drugmakers and got positive responses from 17 of them to increase production under higher quotas. Additionally, Milgram “shared steps the DEA was taking to increase transparency among drugmakers including requiring them to submit anticipated production timelines to the DEA before they receive their quota allotments; requiring manufacturers to apply for such allotments on a quarterly basis as opposed to annually; requiring digital reporting on how much of a drug is being produced and shipped; [and] specifying whether a company’s quota allotment is for domestic production or export.”

Related Links:

— “Adderall makers agree to increase production: DEA,”Joseph Choi , The Hill, November 3, 2023

NBC News (11/5, Bendix, Lozano) reports that “more than two months after a ferocious wildfire burned” a “West Maui community to the ground, killing at least 97 people…survivors say the trauma is as real now as the day it sent hundreds of people fleeing for their lives as flames chewed through their neighborhoods and thick, black smoke filled the skies.” Many residents “have trouble eating, sleeping or getting out of bed, and experience nightmares or flashbacks triggered by noises like the sound of a fire engine or a gust of strong wind. They describe a profound sadness, or heaviness – what Native Hawaiians call kaumaha.”

Related Links:

— “Maui wildfires lead to dire mental health crisis in Lahaina,”Alicia Victoria Lozano and Aria Bendix, NBC News, November 5, 2023

CBS News (11/4, Sundby) reported daylight savings time has “caused considerable consternation amongst Americans. Parents who want their children to head to school in the daylight can appreciate ‘falling back’ to standard time, but those who want the sun to shine long enough to play in the park after classes may want to keep daylight saving time year-round.” Around 20% of “adults said the time change has affected their mental health in a negative way, according to a poll from the American Psychiatric Association that was conducted in September.” APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said, “This is a very, very high number of people who actually say that the change in time will give them some depression, some discomfort, some uneasiness.”

The Hill (11/3, Shepherd) reported, “Efforts to make daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time have been largely unsuccessful.” Even though the US Senate “passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, a bipartisan bill that would have put an end to the biannual changing of clocks, the proposal ultimately stalled in the House and has since made little progress.”

NPR (11/3, Treisman) reported, “About 5% of adults in the U.S. experience” seasonal affective disorder (SAD), “and it typically lasts about 40% of the year…says” the APA. Symptoms “include feelings of sadness, fatigue, cravings of carbs and starch and associated weight gain.” Physicians “believe SAD is linked to the reduced sunlight exposure and circadian rhythm disruption that are hallmarks of the winter months.”

Related Links:

— “When does the time change for daylight saving time 2023? What to know before clocks “fall back”,”Alex Sundby , CBS News, November 4, 2023

The New York Times (11/2, Jewett) reports, “The number of high school students who reported using e-cigarettes fell to 10 percent in the spring of this year from 14 percent last year, according to the results of an annual survey released on Thursday by federal health agencies.” However, “vaping rose slightly among middle school students, to 4.6 percent this year from 3.3 percent in 2022.” Meanwhile, “the use of traditional cigarettes among high school students remained at a record low of less than 2 percent.”

The AP (11/2, Stobbe, Perrone) reports the survey also found “nearly 90% of the students who vape used flavored products, with fruit and candy flavors topping the list.” Over the past “three years, federal and state laws and regulations have banned nearly all teen-preferred flavors from small, cartridge-based e-cigarettes, like Juul.” However, “the FDA has still struggled to regulate the sprawling vaping landscape, which now includes hundreds of brands sold in flavors like gummy bear and watermelon.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (11/2, Warren, Subscription Publication) reports, “Patients age 65 and older who receive thyroid hormone therapy and experience low thyrotropin are at increased risk for dementia and other cognitive problems, according to” a study. Investigators “also found that women were more likely to have low levels of thyrotropin…than men and were more likely to be overtreated.” The findings were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/1, Welsh) reports, “Maternal depressive symptom trajectories remained stable throughout pregnancy and up to 2 years after childbirth, which suggests focusing not only on postpartum depression but depression throughout pregnancy, researchers reported.” In the study published in JAMA Network Open, “researchers categorized all participants based on level of self-reported depressive symptoms as low, mild or high. All participants had stable depressive symptom trajectories from pregnancy to 2 years postpartum.”

Related Links:

— “Depressive symptoms remain stable during pregnancy, up to 2 years after childbirth,”Erin T. Welsh, Healio, November 1, 2023

USA Today (11/1, Martin) reports a “study shows that race may play a role in depression among college students who are minorities at both predominantly white institutions and historically Black universities.” Researchers “found that moderately severe and severe depression was more prevalent among the minority race at both universities.” They also “found that regardless of whether students are minorities at their institutions, they may experience anxiety.” The study was published in the Journal of American College Health.

Related Links:

— “Study: Minority students at universities more likely to suffer depression, race plays role,”Saleen Martin , USA TODAY, November 1, 2023

Parkinson’s News Today (11/1, Shapiro) reports, “Engaging in regular physical activity before and after being diagnosed with depression can lower a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, while stopping to exercise increases that risk, a large study that followed patients in South Korea for about five years” found. But, investigators found that “becoming more active only after a depressive disorder diagnosis…had no effect on Parkinson’s risk.” The findings were published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Regular exercise with depression can lower person’s risk of Parkinson’s,” Lindsey Shapiro, PhD, Parkinson’s News Today, November 1, 2023

HCP Live (11/1, Derman) reports, “Licensed dosing of stimulants is associated with more reduced symptoms in adults with ADHD than unlicensed dosing, according to a…systematic review meta-analysis.” Published in JAMA Psychiatry, the study “highlighted that unlicensed doses of stimulants may not have positive risk benefits compared with licensed doses for adults with ADHD.”

Related Links:

— “Unlicensed Stimulant Doses in Adult ADHD Barely Reduce Symptoms Compared to Licensed Doses,”Chelsie Derman, HCP Live , November 1, 2023

Healio (10/31, Rhoades) reports, “Researchers identified multiple predictors of opioid overdose after an opioid prescription for chronic pain in a…study published in CMAJ.” In the study, evidence identified predictors including “a history of overdose…four or more dispensing pharmacies,” and “three or more prescribers,” among others. “Moderate- to high-certainty evidence supported large relative associations with history of overdose, higher opioid dose, 3 or more prescribers, 4 or more dispensing pharmacies, prescription of fentanyl, current substance use disorder, any mental health diagnosis, depression, bipolar disorder, or pancreatitis.”

Related Links:

— “Study identifies 10 predictors of opioid overdose after prescription for chronic pain,”Andrew Rhoades , Healio , October 31, 2023