HCP Live (10/12, Lutz) reports, “Mental health treatment disparities exist for black and Hispanic children and youth with behavioral and psychiatric problems,” researchers found after reviewing data from “the 2006 to 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys.” Investigators found that despite similar rates of mental health conditions, “black and Latino children made 37% and 49% fewer visits to psychiatrists, respectively, than white children.” The findings were published online Aug. 12 in the International Journal of Health Services.

Related Links:

— “Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Psychiatric Treatment Hard to Ignore,” Rachel Lutz, HCP Live, October 12, 2016.

Medscape (10/12, Harrison) reports, “A novel way of delivering healthcare services to” people with severe mental illness “may prevent the predictable downward spiral to homelessness, provided patients have a home where these services can be delivered and a family member who can provide psychosocial support,” researchers found. At the Institute of Psychiatric Services (IPS): The Mental Health Services 2016 Conference, investigators described the success of the Parachute NYC program, which is a “community-based mental health initiative that deploys mobile teams to treat” people with serious mental illnesses “in their homes.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HCP Live (10/12, Lutz) reports that “less than one-third of adults with depression receive treatment,” researchers found after analyzing “treatment data for approximately 46,000 adults between 2012 and 2013 to characterize the treatment of adult depression.” The findings were published in the October issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Few Adults with Depression Receive Treatment,” Rachel Lutz, HCP Live, October 12, 2016.

CNN (10/12, Scutti) reports that when selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are taken during pregnancy, the medications may be “associated with a higher risk of language disorders, including dyslexia, in offspring.” Included in the study were “15,596 mothers who purchased SSRIs once or more before or during pregnancy,” another “9,537 mothers who had been diagnosed with depression or another psychiatric disorder but did not purchase antidepressants during pregnancy,” and “31,207 mothers who had never been diagnosed with depression and never purchased antidepressants.” The findings were published online Oct. 12 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study links antidepressants in pregnancy with language disorders,” Susan Scutti, CNN, October 12, 2016.

The AP (10/11) reports the US Supreme Court will not “hear a dispute between West Virginia health officials and a patient advocacy group over access to medical records.” On Oct. 11, “the justices…let stand a state court ruling that said federal laws protecting health record privacy don’t prevent Legal Aid of West Virginia from reviewing patient files at the state’s two psychiatric hospitals.”

Related Links:

— “JUSTICES WON’T HEAR DISPUTE OVER ACCESS TO HEALTH RECORDS,” Associated Press, October 11, 2016.