CNN (7/17, Howard ) reports, “The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth have officially ended operations, meaning people contacting 988 for help no longer have the option to ‘press 3’ to reach counselors specifically trained to respond to the needs of this group.” According to CNN, “The lifeline included a subnetwork for LGBTQ+ youth soon after its launch in July 2022.” However, “the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration…announced last month that those services would be coming to an end.”

Related Links:

— “Trump administration ends 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s specialized service for LGBTQ+ youth,”Jacqueline Howard , CNN, July 17, 2025

HealthDay (7/17, Gotkine ) reports, “Most individuals do not go through severe withdrawal after discontinuing antidepressants,according to a study.” One researcher said, “Despite previous concern about stopping antidepressants, our work finds that most people do not experience severe withdrawal, in terms of additional symptoms. Importantly, depression relapse was not linked to antidepressant withdrawal in these studies.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Few Discontinuation Symptoms Reported After Stopping Antidepressants,”
Elana Gotkine , HealthDay, July 17, 2025

Reuters (7/16, Niasse ) reports, “More than half of large U.S. employers plan to scale back health care benefits next year as rising costs from weight-loss and specialty drugs squeeze budgets, according to a new survey [PDF] released by consulting firm Mercer on Wednesday.” The survey found that “among employers with 500 or more workers, 51% said they planned to increase cost-sharing in 2026, including raising deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs for workers.” That percentage “is up from 45% of large employers who said they would increase cost-sharing for 2025.”

Related Links:

— “Many US employers plan to pare health benefits as weight-loss spending soars,” Amina Niasse, Reuters, July 16, 2025

The American Journal of Managed Care (7/16, Grossi) reports, “Becoming food insecure can trigger symptoms of anxiety and depression within just one month, and regaining food security can reverse those symptoms just as quickly, according to new research that offers compelling evidence of a direct, causal link between food access and mental health.” The research “tracked nearly 500 adults, showing food insecurity as a significant predictor of mental health issues.” The findings were published in PLOS Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Causal Link Found Between Food Insecurity and Mental Health Symptoms in New Data,”Giuliana Grossi, American Journal of Managed Care , July 16, 2025

The Hill (7/16, Migdon ) reports, “States and mental health organizations are bracing for the closure of a specialized service within 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, for LGBTQ youth on Thursday under orders from the Trump administration amid its broader spending cuts and the dismantling of programs dedicated to diversity and inclusion.” The Trevor Project “launched an ‘emergency lifeline campaign’ following the announcement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration last month that 988 would ‘no longer silo’ LGBTQ youth services beginning July 17.” Money “raised through the campaign will help the Trevor Project continue ‘to protect and support LGBTQ+ young people in the face of significant funding losses,’ according to the group’s website.”

Related Links:

— “LGBTQ advocates brace for Thursday closure of 988 lifeline service,” Brooke Migdon, The Hill, July 16, 2025

MedPage Today (7/14, Phend ) reports, “Vaping improved smoking cessation rates better than nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults, a randomized trial from Australia showed.” Investigators found that “breath test-verified continuous smoking abstinence after 6 months nearly tripled with use of vaporized nicotine products compared with NRT during a quit attempt, with rates of 28.4% compared with 9.6%, a significant difference that Bayesian analysis suggested was 99% certain for superiority.” Additionally, “vaping was…better across subanalyses by age, sex, nicotine dependence, and mental illness and resulted in fewer patient-reported adverse events.” The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Medical Economics (7/15, Shryock ) reports, “Low-income patients are more likely to have their health insurance claims denied and less likely to successfully challenge those denials than higher-income individuals, according to a study.” Investigators “found that patients from households earning less than $50,000 a year — as well as the health care providers who serve them — are significantly less likely to contest denied claims than those with higher incomes.” Moreover, “when they do challenge these denials, they are less successful in reversing them.” The findings were published in Health Affairs.

Related Links:

— “Low-income patients face uphill battle when fighting health insurance denials, Umass research finds,”Todd Shryock, Medical Economics, July 15, 2025

MedPage Today (7/14, Henderson) reports a study found that U.S. “emergency department (ED) visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) among adolescents increased more than 10-fold in recent years, with increases observed regardless of states’ recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) status.” Researchers said that “from 2016 through 2023, CHS encounters among 13- to 21-year-olds increased by 49% per year, from 160.4 per million ED visits in 2016 to 1,968.3 per million in 2023.” Further, “CHS encounters increased by 32.5% per million ED encounters per year in states with RCL and by 49.3% per million per year in states without RCL.” They noted the “overall rate per million ED encounters for CHS was 1,909.5 in states with RCL and 834 in states without RCL.” The study was discussed in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (7/11, Gotkine) reported a study suggests that “adding anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis in Pennsylvania was associated with an increase in certifications.” The researchers “examined whether Pennsylvania adding anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition to obtain medical cannabis in July 2019 was associated with changes in the distribution of qualifying conditions and the total number of certifications.” They observed “there was a rapid increase in the number of certifications issued per month, from about 11,000 certifications in June 2019 to 30,000 in December 2023, which were mostly related to increases in certifications for anxiety.” Researchers noted that “after the addition of anxiety, 60.26 percent of certifications were for anxiety, while 41.47 and 10.97 percent of certifications were for chronic pain and PTSD, respectively.” The study was discussed in research letter published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Adding Anxiety as Qualifier for Medical Cannabis Increases Number of Certifications,”Elana Gotkine
, Elana Gotkine/i>, July 11, 2025