In a nearly 1,700-word article, National Journal (1/14, Askarinam, Subscription Publication) reports that about “forty percent of youth who needed mental health care between 2011-12 didn’t receive the necessary treatment, according to the Children’s Defense Fund’s 2014 State of America’s Children report.” That percentage is even higher among minorities and children “living in poverty.” Now, a new US Federal education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act may change that situation. The law “includes funding for schools to invest in the mental and behavioral health of their students,” authorizing “grants to the tune of $1.6 billion.”

Related Links:

— “Schools in Poor Areas Have More Students with Mental Health Needs,” Leah Askarinam, National Journal, January 13, 2016.

The New York Times (1/13, A11, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) reports that a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 12 to 5 to recommend approval of “a new way of treating opioid addicts, using a slender rod implanted into the arm that delivers medicine for months at a time.” The device, “about the size of a small matchstick,” administers daily doses of buprenorphine for periods of six months.

USA Today (1/13, Szabo) reports that the device “has been shown to ease withdrawal symptoms, decrease cravings and cut the risk of relapse.”

Related Links:

— “Implant for Opioid Addicts Urged for Federal Approval,” Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, January12 , 2016.

MedPage Today (1/13, Jackson) reports that children “with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) faced a higher mortality risk through young adulthood compared with people without ASD,” a study published online Jan. 11 in JAMA Pediatrics reveals. The study of 1,912,904 Danish children “born from 1980 to 2010 who were followed through 2013” also suggests that “having both an ASD and the comorbid conditions of epilepsy or intellectual disability was associated with an increased risk of death that ranged from 2.6- to 7.6-fold higher than the general population.”

Related Links:

— “Autism Spectrum Kids Have Slightly Higher Death Risk,” Kay Jackson, MedPage Today, January 13, 2016.

The Los Angeles Times (1/13, Khan) reports in “Science Now” that “patients seeking and undergoing” bariatric surgery “were more likely to suffer from depression and binge-eating than the general population – but those with depression often saw their mental health improve after surgery,” the findings of a 68-study meta-analysis published Jan. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest. The analysis reveals that “patients who were about to undergo bariatric surgery had rates of depression (19%) and binge-eating disorder (17%) that were both more than twice as high as they were in the general population (about 8% and 1% to 5%, respectively).”

Related Links:

— “Weight-loss surgery may reduce depression in some patients, study suggests,” Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2016.

The Washington Post (1/11, Dennis) reports in “To Your Health” that prescription drug prices increased over 10% in 2015, according to an analysis released Monday by Truveris, “a health-care data company that tracks drug prices.” According to Truveris, prices for branded drugs increased 14.77%, specialty drug prices increased 9.21%, and generic drug prices rose 2.93%.

Related Links:

— “Prescription drug prices jumped more than 10 percent in 2015, analysis finds,” Brady Dennis, Washington Post, January 11, 2016.