HealthDay (9/6, Thompson) reports, “People in better physical condition appear to have less need for drugs to treat mood disorders, Norwegian researchers have found.” The investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data from the Trøndelag Health Study, and then comparing “that data with information from the Norwegian Prescribed Drug Registry.” The findings were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Fitter Folks Need Fewer Psychiatric Meds, Study Finds,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , September 7, 2023

The Washington Post (9/6, Osaka, O’Connor) reports, “When temperatures surge, the effects of schizophrenia can be profound.” However, “the precise reasons why people with serious mental illnesses — and those with schizophrenia in particular — struggle to deal with higher temperatures remain somewhat murky.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

RevCycle Intelligence (9/5, Bailey) reports, “A third of surveyed health care workers plan to leave their job in the next year, according to new data from Tebra.” A further “14% of respondents said they planned to leave the industry entirely within the next year.” The article adds, “Recruiting and retaining staff is a key priority for many health care organizations,” but “consequences stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and other administrative burdens are creating a less-than-ideal work setting for many health care professionals.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 3 Healthcare Workers Plan to Leave Their Position, Survey Finds,” Victoria Bailey, RevCycle Intelligence, September 5, 2023

Healio (9/5, Bascom) reports, “In the United States, the prevalence of adolescents vaping CBD has risen in recent years, highlighting the need for educating youth about the potential harms,” researchers concluded in the findings of a 28,291-participant cross-sectional study published online in JAMA Network Open. The study reveals that the “prevalence of youth vaping CBD among U.S. adolescents” appears “high, with nearly 800,000 U.S. middle and high school students reporting past-month vaping CBD.” It also “raises concern that a notable proportion of adolescents are uncertain about whether they have engaged in vaping CBD or not,” perhaps because of the “lack of consistent quality assurance standards and the mislabeling of CBD products in the market.”

Related Links:

— “Some teens do not know if they have vaped CBD,”Emma Bascom, Healio , September 5, 2023

Healio (9/6, Welsh) reports, “Use of postnatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs) “was associated with reduced risks for maternal depression and unfavorable outcomes associated with postnatal depression, researchers reported in” the findings of a “large prospective cohort study of 61,081 mother-child groups using longitudinal data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study” published online Aug. 29 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “SSRIs may lower risk for postnatal depression-associated outcomes for mother and child,”Erin T. Welsh, Healio , September 6, 2023

HealthDay (9/5, Mundell) reports, “Suicides by Americans aged 10 to 24 are continuing to climb and guns are increasingly the method of choice in these tragedies,” according to a study that examined “U.S. federal data on all suicide deaths among people ages 10 through 24 from 2013 to the end of 2020.” The study encompassed “a total of more than 49,500 suicides…recorded during that time for this age group.” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Gun Suicides Keep Rising Among U.S. Youth,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, September 5, 2023

NBC News (9/5, Lovelace) reports, “Patients could save millions of dollars by buying prescription drugs through online pharmacy discount programs instead of through traditional insurance plans, a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine finds.” Researchers “looked at 20 commonly prescribed generic drugs, including statins, heart failure medications and antidepressants,” and “found that at least 1 out of 5 prescriptions were cheaper through the Amazon or GoodRx discount card programs compared to what patients actually paid out of pocket for the drugs.”

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— “Online pharmacy programs can save patients millions in prescription drug costs, study finds,”Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, September 5, 2023

CNN (9/4, Bonifield) reported on how medication shortages for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are affecting high school and college students as this year’s school season begins. Currently, 11 pharmaceutical makers “are listed as making Adderall” (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine salts) “or its generic versions on the FDA’s shortages website, and while some say the medicine is available, others don’t foresee an end to the shortage until December.” Consequently, “‘a lot of the young people that I’ve been treating have had difficulties getting their medications month to month,’ said…Warren Ng,” MD, “a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center who also serves as president for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.” If they cannot get medication, many young people with ADHD “fail classes, are held back from going to the next grade, get sent to the principal’s office and have trouble doing homework, Ng said.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD drug shortage stresses families during back-to-school season,”Meg Tirrell and Amanda Sealy, CNN, September 4, 2023

Psychiatric News (9/1) reported, “The percentage of overdose deaths involving counterfeit” medications “in the United States more than doubled between late 2019 and late 2021, according to findings (8/31)” published online Sept. 1 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study team came to this conclusion after calculating “quarterly percentages of overdose deaths with evidence of counterfeit pill use from July 2019 to December 2021 based on information provided by officials from 29 states and the District of Columbia,” then “also examined information about the demographics of the people who died by overdose, the circumstances of the death, and the” counterfeit pills involved.

Related Links:

— “Counterfeit Pills Increasingly Involved in U.S. Overdose Deaths, Psychiatric News, September 1, 2023

NBC News (8/31, Edwards) reports, “The number of people who have overdosed and died from fake prescription pills has more than doubled in recent years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.” The report by the CDC, “released to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day, found that from mid-2019 to the end of 2021, overdose deaths involving counterfeit drugs more than doubled, from 2% to 4.7%.” Among deaths involving fake pills, “illicit fentanyl was detected in 93%,” and “more than half of the deaths – 57.1% – occurred among people younger than 35.”

The Hill (8/31, Sforza) reports, “In total, there were more than 54,000 overdose deaths with evidence of counterfeit pill use.” The report “found that more than half of the deaths with evidence of fake pill use were related to counterfeit oxycodone or with counterfeit alprazolam, which is more commonly sold under the brand name Xanax.”

CNN (8/31, McPhillips) reports, “Methamphetamine was detected in about a quarter of deaths where counterfeit pills were involved, while cocaine and benzodiazepines were present in more than one in eight cases.”

Related Links:

— “Overdose deaths from fake pills are rising, especially among younger adults,” Erika Edwards, NBC News, August 31, 2023