HealthDay (9/27, Preidt) reports that research suggests high utility bills may “cause anxiety and depression in low-income families.” Researchers studied “72 families in the Boston area with annual incomes of $32,000 or less.” The investigators found that “the inability to pay utility bills caused mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.” The findings were published online in Social Science and Medicine.

Related Links:

— “High Utility Bills Strain More Than the Budget,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 27, 2016.

USA Today (9/26, Nelson) reports on the opioid epidemic citing a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that found 2.1 million people abused prescription opioids in 2012. Tom Hill, a senior adviser on addiction and recovery at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse Treatment Center, has “said that addiction affects everyone.”

Related Links:

— “The opioid addict next door: Drug abuse where you least expect it,” Samantha Nelson, USA Today, September 27, 2016.

The AP (9/26, Daly) reports the House is expected to vote on a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to “ensure that all telephone calls, text messages and other communications received by the crisis line are answered in a timely manner by an appropriately qualified person.” The article reports that according to a former director of a suicide hotline for veterans, more than one-third of the calls received “are not being answered by front-line staffers because of poor work habits and other problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The New York Times (9/24, SR5, Velasquez-Manoff, Subscription Publication) reported that “when taken during pregnancy, acetaminophen may increase the risk that children will develop asthma or” even attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). For example, research recently published “in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that prenatal acetaminophen use increased seven-year-olds’ risk of asthma by 13 percent.” Moreover, a JAMA Pediatrics study “noted that a mother’s use of the pain reliever in midpregnancy increased seven-year-olds’ risk of hyperactivity by 31 percent.”

Related Links:

— “The Trouble With Tylenol and Pregnancy,” MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF, New York Times, September 24, 2016.

Healthcare IT News (9/23, Monegain) reported the Department of Health and Human Services unveiled the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program, which will award $44.5 million in grants for training programs across the US with the aim of “increasing the number of mental health” professionals “and substance abuse counselors.” The grants will be awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Related Links:

— “HHS aims to grow behavioral health workforce with $44.5 million investment,” Bernie Monegain, Healthcare IT News, September 23, 2016.