The AP (11/12, Baldor) reports that, according to officials from the Department of Defense, US military suicides across all branches of the service “have dropped by more than 22 percent this year.” The drop has occurred “amid an array of new programs targeting what the Defense Department calls an epidemic that took more service members’ lives last year than the war in Afghanistan did during that same period.” Nevertheless, officials with the military expressed reluctance “to pin the decline on the broad swath of detection and prevention efforts, acknowledging that they still don’t fully understand why troops take their own lives,” particularly since some suicides occur in service members who have never been deployed to battle.

Modern Healthcare (11/12, Robeznieks, Subscription Publication) reports that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) “says moves by UnitedHealthcare and other insurance companies to drop physicians from Medicare Advantage networks may impede the Obama administration’s goals for healthcare reform.” In aletter (pdf) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the APA, along with 80 other physician groups, wrote, “The timing of the network modifications, the lack of accurate and reliable information, and lack of network transparency has significant negative ramifications for the administration’s goal of reducing fragmentation of patient care.” The letter cites evidence that the “proposed modification will disrupt long-established patient-physician relationships, interfere with existing physician referral networks, and undermine emergency department coverage in many hospitals.”

Related Links:

— “Apnewsbreak: Military Suicides Drop; Unclear Why, “Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, November 11, 2013.

NBC News (11/11, Dahl) reports on a study published in the journal Pediatrics finding that PG-13 movies of recent release “contain more violence than the R-rated films of the 1980s,” with gun violence having “tripled since 1985.” The study was based on a review of “945 popular films released from 1950 to 2012.”

The Washington Post (11/11, Dennis) reports that gun violence in PG-13 movies “more than tripled since the rating was introduced in the mid-1980s.” The reviewers “excluded violence not intended to harm anyone, such as accidents and run-of-the-mill sports aggression.” They concluded that “violence in films had more than doubled since 1950.”

The New York Times (11/11, Cieply, Subscription Publication) reports that gun violence appears “more than twice an hour in the best sellers” in both PG-13- and R-rated movies. The review’s “authors called for changes to the ratings system, which, according to some of its critics, is tougher on sex than on violence.”

Related Links:

— “PG-13 movies are now more violent than R-rated ’80s flicks -study, “Melissa Dahl, NBC News, November 11, 2013.

In a move that garnered extensive media coverage over the weekend, the Washington Post (11/9, Somashekhar) reported that the Obama Administration fulfilled a promise Friday when it issued a final rule on parity in mental health and substance-abuse treatment, a rule long in the making that also is part of the Administration’s response to mass shootings and mental illness. HHS Secretary Sebelius said in announcing the rule Friday, “For way too long, the healthcare system has openly discriminated against Americans with behavioral health problems. In the past, it was legal for insurance companies to treat these disorders differently than medical and surgical needs,” but “we are finally closing those gaps in coverage.” The rule will give patients information on insurance treatment standards and will provide coverage typical of any physical condition for some “gray-area treatments.” The rules will apply to almost all forms of insurance.

APA Applauds Final Rule. Modern Healthcare (11/8, Subscription Publication) reported that advocates for people with mental illnesses praised Friday’s “long-awaited” final rule on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 “requiring insurers to cover mental healthcare on the same basis as physical healthcare services.” Modern Healthcare quoted American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, who said, “The final rule provides a crucial step forward to ensure that patients receive the benefits they deserve and are entitled to under the law.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers directed to treat mental health issues the same as physical ailments, “Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post, November 8, 2013.

Medscape (11/8, Brauser) reports that, according to a 30-study review published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “even low levels of physical activity may reduce the risk of developing depression.” In fact, 25 of the “30 large studies examined in the systematic review, which included participants between the ages of 11 and 100 years” found “a ‘negative risk’…between baseline physical activity (PA) and the future development of depression.”

Today, the Obama Administration is expected to issue its long-anticipated and final regulations defining parity in mental health benefits and treatment. Only one major newspaper, the New York Times, has covered the story. The Times is also the only source pointing out how the Administration believes the new parity regulations to be essential to the President’s program to counteract gun violence, saying that better access to mental health treatment may help reduce shootings and mass murders.

In a 1,300-word article on its front page, the New York Times (11/8, A1, Calmes, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports that today, the Obama Administration “will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.” An unnamed senior official said, “Here we’re doing full parity, and we’ve also taken steps to extend it to the people covered in the Affordable Care Act.” What’s more, the White House, according to the Times, sees the regulations “as critical to President Obama’s program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders.”

Related Links:

— “Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills, “Jackie Calmes, The New York Times, November 8, 2013.

Several media outlets are reporting on projections that the United States is likely to face a shortage of physicians in coming years, attributable in part to the Affordable Care Act.

Reuters (11/5, Seaman) reports on a study that indicates that the United States will need more physicians by 2025. The additional doctors will be needed to account for three factors: the US population overall is projected to grow 9.5% by 2025, the population is getting older, and the Affordable Care Act will increase the utilization of medical services. The report was published in the journal Health Affairs. The severity of the shortage will vary based on doctor specialty and part of the country.

Related Links:

— “Doctor demand will grow by up to a third by 2025 – study, “Andrew Seaman, Reuters, November 4, 2013.

Medscape (11/5, Anderson) reports that a newly-released draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) contends that there is currently not enough evidence to recommend routine dementia screening.

HealthDay (11/5) reports that “the guideline authors write that it’s unclear whether existing treatments have a significant effect on mild to moderate dementia.” Meanwhile, “a review of existing studies, treatments and diagnostic tools…found no medical proof that earlier detection of age-related brain decline helps improve decision-making about a patient’s future.”

Related Links:

— “Jury Still Out on Routine Mental Tests for Seniors, Panel Says, “Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, November 4, 2013.

USA Today (11/5, Zoroya, Hoyer) reports on its front page that, according to data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in 2013, the VA “failed to schedule a third of new mental health patient appointments within 14 days.” Delays to see a psychiatrist appear to last about three weeks on average, the article points out.

Related Links:

— “Many veterans face frustrating delays for mental health care, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, November 4, 2013.

The Wall Street Journal (11/5, Wang, Subscription Publication) reported that emotional-support animals (ESAs) are being used more often to help people with mental illnesses and conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and autism. Observational studies on the health benefits provided by such animals, primarily dogs, indicate they may be helpful, even if use of the animals is sometimes controversial in certain situations, such as at restaurants or in airplanes. Unlike guide dogs for the visually impaired, ESAs undergo no formal training, nor are there formal regulations governing their use. Often patients with ESAs rely on a physician’s note specifying how the animal helps the patient.

Related Links:

— “Rise in Pets as Therapy for Mental Conditions, “Shirley Wang, The Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times (11/5, Morin) reports that, according to a review published in PLoS Medicine, “clinical depression is now the second-leading cause of global disability…with the highest rates of incidence affecting working-age adults and women more than men.” The review found that “depressive disorders were second only to lower respiratory infections when it came to inflicting the most years of disability on people throughout the world.”

BBC News (11/6, Briggs) reports that the authors of the review recommended that depression should “be treated as a global public health priority.” The review also found that the impact of depression appeared to vary in different countries and regions of the world. For example, the highest rates of major depression were found in Afghanistan, while Japan reported the lowest.

Related Links:

— “It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad world: Depression and global disability, “Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2013.