USA Today (10/15, O’Donnell) reports that according to a National Council on Patient Information and Education study, “poor adherence to medications among patients with multiple chronic conditions has reached ‘crisis proportions’ in the US,” leading “to ‘unnecessary disease progression’ and complications and too many emergency room visits, hospitalizations and avoidable hospital re-admissions.” The coalition recommends “lowering or eliminating co-payments for medications used to treat the most common chronic diseases,” as well as “pushing pharmacies to better coordinate patients’ medications.”

Related Links:

— “Crisis: Patients not taking their medications, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, October 15, 2013.

CQ (10/16, Attias, Subscription Publication) reports that former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) “is attempting to use his famous family’s brand and his own experiences to advance the cause of mental health.” The retired congressman “is seeking to elevate the attention this issue receives at a time when the 2010 health care law should expand access to treatment options and a long-awaited rule for a mental-health parity law is soon to be released.” Mental health professionals as well as many members of Congress believe that “Kennedy has the authority to reach beyond partisanship as he tries to unite diverse advocacy groups behind a common agenda.”

Medwire (10/16, McDermid) reports that, according to a study published in the October issue of the journal World Psychiatry, “people with symptoms of psychosis have an increased rate of medical comorbidities and unhealthy lifestyle habits even if they do not have a psychiatric diagnosis.” After analyzing “data from 224,254 participants in the World Health Organization World Health Survey,” researchers found that such patients “also had increased rates of healthcare indicators such as nonpsychiatric hospital stays, and prescribed medications.”

Related Links:

— “Psychotic symptoms alone denote medical health risk, “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, October 16, 2013.

CNN (10/15, Luhby) reports that some consumers buying insurance from the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces “may find themselves restricted to more limited doctor and hospital networks than their peers outside the state-based exchanges enjoy.” According to the article, many insurance companies “have opted to limit their selection of doctors in some exchange plans to keep premiums and other costs down.”

Related Links:

— “Doctor choice in Obamacare? Not so much, “Tami Luhby, CNN, October 14, 2013.

USA Today (10/14, Healy) reports on a new study published online in Pediatrics, which found “aspects of the health toll” inflicted on adolescents from gun injuries other than the death toll “get much less attention, including injury severity, the need for major surgical intervention, and high care costs.” The study found the impact to be particularly heavy for adolescent males aged 15 to 19, accounting for 83.2 percent of the gunshot wounds suffered by children in the study. According to the researchers, “the study provides ‘a broader look’ at the disproportionate and negative effects beyond fatalities.”

Related Links:

— “Death tallies belie true impact of kids’ gun injuries, “Michelle Healy, USA Today, October 14, 2013.

In an opinion piece in the Denver Post (10/13, Milofsky), retired psychiatrist Jean E. Milofsky, MD, wrote in response to a recent “60 Minutes” appearance by psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey, MD, author of “The Insanity Offense,” and psychiatrist Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association, in which the pair expressed the view that finding and then treating people with severe mental illness would reduce the chances of violent acts occurring, including those involving firearms and mass shootings. Dr. Milofsky pointed out that mental healthcare in the US is underfunded and that more than half of the US homeless population includes people with mental illnesses, and that no clinician is able to detect with absolute certainty the potential for violence in people with mental illness. She also reminded readers that the majority of people with severe mental illnesses are not violent and concluded that mental health reform is indeed needed, but so are societal approaches to reducing gun violence, an entirely separate issue.

Related Links:

— “And now it’s mental illness being blamed for violence, “Jean E. Milofsky, The Denver Post, October 12, 2013.

Reuters (10/11, Doyle) reported that, according to a study (10/14) published online Sept. 27 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, working the night shift appears not to result in long-term cognitive impairment in middle-aged women. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after analyzing data from the Nurses’ Health Study on some 16,000 middle-aged female nurses.

Related Links:

— “Night shifts not linked to mental decline, “Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, October 11, 2013.

HealthDay (10/11, Preidt) reports that, according to the results of a 512-participant study published online in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, an erroneous belief that people “suffer from a serious disease (hypochondria) can worsen as they scour the Internet in an attempt to pinpoint symptoms.” The study’s lead author explained that “persistent fear about having a disease can trigger worries about potential medical bills, disability and job loss, which can lead to even more Internet searching…unnecessary medical tests and stress,” and visits to physicians.

Related Links:

— “Too Much Online Health Info May Worsen Worriers’ Anxiety, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 10, 2013.

In the Forbes (10/11) “The Apothecary” blog, contributor Nicole Fisher writes that the nation’s capital “has been consumed by a government shutdown, with lawmakers and policymakers trying to determine how to rein in our country’s financial burdens and overspending.” But, “as federal and state governments look to cut budgets at every turn, mental and behavioral health services are often” the first to be cut from budgets. These budget “cuts, compounded with US stigma often applied to mental health troubles and disparate access to services across the county, mean that those who need services most are often those left without proper care.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Loses Funding As Government Continues Shutdown, “Nicole Fisher,, Forbes, October 10, 2013.

CNN (10/10, Rodriguez) reports, “In 2011, 15.9% of Hispanic adults reported suffering from a mental illness the previous year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” Still, many do not seek treatment. Experts believe “the most problematic issue for the Latino community is their fear of being highly stigmatized for accessing mental health services.” According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Office of Minority and National Affairs, “among Hispanics with a mental disorder, fewer than one in 11 contact a mental health specialist.”

Related Links:

— “Latinos struggle to find help for mental health issues, “Cindy Y. Rodriguez, CNN, October 9, 2013.