CNN (10/11, Musa) reports, “The number of drug overdose deaths in the” US “is still increasing every month, according to new data” from the CDC, “but the pace appears to be slowing.” According to “new estimates from the” CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, “more than 112,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in May, an increase of more than 2,700 from the previous year.” Meanwhile, “there were 112,024 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in May, compared with 109,261 in the 12-month period ending in May 2022, a 2.5% increase.”

Related Links:

— “US overdose deaths continue their rise, data shows, with ‘devastating impact’ on population,”Amanda Musa, CNN, October 11, 2023

The New York Times (10/11, Ives) reports California has banned “the use of ‘excited delirium’ as a cause of death, rejecting a term that prominent medical associations have said is rooted in racism and is often used to justify the deaths of people in police custody.” The American Psychiatric Association is among major medical groups that “have dismissed the term as pseudoscience.”

Related Links:

— “California Bans ‘Excited Delirium’ as a Cause of Death,”Mike Ives, The New York Times, October 11, 2023

HealthDay (10/11, Murez) reports, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about risks of using compounded versions of the drug ketamine, often taken for psychiatric disorders.” Such drugs “are not evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness. They’re also not regulated like approved drugs, so they present a greater risk.” Compounded ketamine products are increasingly being used “for mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, PTSD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the FDA.” However, in a statement, the FDA said, “Despite increased interest in the use of compounded ketamine, we are not aware of evidence to suggest that it is safer, is more effective, or works faster than medications that are FDA-approved for the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders.”

Related Links:

— “FDA Warns of Dangers of Compounded Ketamine for Psychiatric Use,”Cara Murez, HealthDay, October 11, 2023

ABC News (10/10, Cahan) reports, “In the face of widespread staffing shortages amid the ballooning demand, 988 centers all over the country are being forced to make…tough decisions for frequent callers, sources informed ABC News.” The article adds, “According to Vibrant Emotional Health, the national organization administering the new 988 hotline, crisis centers across the country are using callers’ names, numbers or even ‘the sound of their voice’ to potentially limit services.” However, “leading mental health professionals disagree that such an approach is likely to help patients.” Mark Olfson, a psychiatrist and former chairman of the scientific advisory committee for the American Psychiatric Association, said, “I am aware of no evidence that restricting crisis mental health services leads to positive outcomes.”

Related Links:

— “Amid nationwide mental health crisis, suicide prevention hotlines struggle with repeat callers,”Eli Cahan, ABC News, October 10, 2023

The AP (10/10, Nguyen) reports, “More Californians with untreated mental illness and addiction issues could be detained against their will and forced into treatment under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom” (D), “a move to help overhaul the state’s mental health system and address its growing homelessness crisis.” This “new law, which reforms the state’s conservatorship system, expands the definition of ‘gravely disabled’ to include people who are unable to provide themselves basic needs such as food and shelter due to an untreated mental illness or unhealthy drugs and alcohol use.” The law will go into “effect in 2024, but counties can postpone implementation until 2026.”

Related Links:

— “New California law aims to force people with mental illness or addiction to get help,”Trân Nguyễn, AP, October 10, 2023

The Hill (10/6, Weixel) reported that on Friday, the Biden Administration “extended flexibilities regarding controlled substances to be prescribed via telemedicine.” The Drug Enforcement Administration “said in a notice it would allow [clinicians] to continue using telemedicine to prescribe certain controlled substances through the end of 2024.”

Psychiatric News (10/6) reported that “earlier this year, the DEA proposed regulations that would curtail telemedicine prescribing flexibilities extended to qualified health professionals during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.” The article added, “APA filed two letters in response to these proposed rules in March, urging that the DEA balance common-sense safeguards for DEA enforcement without decreasing access to lifesaving treatment.” The agency “received more than 38,000 comments on the proposed telemedicine rules and last month held two days of public listening sessions related to those rules.” During the public meeting, APA Committee on Telepsychiatry Chair Shabana Khan, MD, said, “Rather than a mandatory blanket requirement [for an in-person visit], the need for an in-person examination of a patient really should be left to the clinical discretion of a practitioner who has the knowledge, skills, and experience to make that decision. … Reducing flexibility in modalities of care increases inequity, forcing practitioners to cherry-pick patients that have the ability to travel to in-person care.”

Related Links:

— “DEA extends pandemic telehealth rules for prescribing controlled substances,”Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, October 6, 2023

HCPlive (10/6, Derman) reported, “A newly developed prediction model for opioid treatment may help detect risk of opioids by three weeks,” researchers concluded after creating “a prediction model to see if people with opioid use disorder” (OUD) “were at a risk for opioid return during early stages of treatment – which they were.” Included in the participant sample were “2199 adult trial participants aged >18 years old.” The findingswere published online Oct. 4 in JAMA Psychiatry. “A simplified score provided good clinical risk stratification wherein patients with weekly opioid-negative UDS (Urine Drug Screen) results in the 3 weeks after treatment initiation had a 13% risk of return to use compared with 85% for those with 3 weeks of opioid-positive or missing UDS results.”

Related Links:

— “New Decision Analytical Model Predicts Risk of Opioid Use Disorder Return,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, October 6, 2023

The New York Times (10/9, Richtel) reports, “Approximately 20 percent of adolescents had symptoms of major depressive disorder” (MDD) “in 2021 – the first full calendar year of the pandemic – but less than half who needed treatment received it,” according to a study that “drew from a nationally representative sample of 10,700 adolescents, ages 12 to 17, whose experiences were recorded by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” The study revealed that “treatment was most lacking for minority adolescents, particularly those who are Latino and mixed-race.” The findings were published online Oct. 9 in JAMA Pediatrics. HCPlive(10/9, Derman) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Teen Depression Rose Sharply During the Pandemic, but Treatment Didn’t Follow,”Matt Richtel, The New York Times, October 9, 2023

The Washington Post (10/8, Blakemore) reports, “In a sobering analysis, researchers warn that those who’ve had childhood cancer are highly likely to face physical and mental health challenges later in life, with 95% developing a ‘significant health problem’ related to their cancer or treatment by age 45.” Investigators “reviewed 73 studies, including 39 cohort studies that followed patients over time.” Published in JAMA, “the researchdocumented a variety of concerns for young cancer survivors, ranging from subsequent hormone issues to reproductive health challenges, problems with muscles and bones, cognitive impairment and more.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (10/6, Collins) reported, “As many as 1 in 4 teens with autism may be undiagnosed…research suggests.” For the study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers “reviewed school and health records of close to 4,900 16-year-olds living in four northern New Jersey counties in 2014,” with the initial review identifying “1,365 cases that merited a closer look.” Of those cases, “a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was confirmed in 560” and “from the chosen cases, 384 had been diagnosed at age 8, and 176 met the diagnostic criteria for autism at 16.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 4 Teens With Autism May Be Undiagnosed,”Sarah D. Collins, HealthDay, October 6, 2023