The Texas Tribune (11/18, Silver) reports that yesterday, the Vera Institute of Justice issued a report (pdf) called “First Do No Harm: Advancing Public Health in Policing Practices,” which “recommends that law enforcement agencies change their practices regarding mental illness, sex workers and addiction without waiting for legislative action.” The report cites San Antonio, TX as an example of a city that has made “policy changes in the right direction.”

Related Links:

— “Report Recommends Police Reform Mental Health Policies,” Johnathan Silver, Texas Tribune, November 17, 2015.

HealthDay (11/18, Preidt) reports that a study based on data from the Jackson Heart Study in Jackson, MS and published recently in Circulation: Quality and Outcomes suggests that black Americans with depression were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

The study covered over 3,300 black patients aged 21 to 94. Of those, 22 percent were diagnosed with major depression at the beginning of the study and those were over the course of the first ten years of the study more likely to have heart disease (5.6% to 3.6%) and stroke (3.7% to 2.6%) than were patients who did not have depression.

Patients with depression were also more likely to have “chronic health problems, get less exercise, have lower incomes, smoke, and have a higher body mass index.”

Related Links:

— “Depressed Black Americans May Be at Risk for Heart Woes,” Robert Preidt, Health Day, November 17, 2015.

ProPublica (11/20, Ornstein) reports that a ProPublica analysis of data on the user review website Iodine found no significant difference in patient satisfaction between branded and generic medications. ProPublica “compared the reviews of brands and generics in three drug categories: antipsychotic medications that treat schizophrenia, antidepressants, and drugs that lower cholesterol.” For each of the three categories, “a generic scored best on each of the three questions.”

Related Links:

— “Brand-Name Drugs Increase Cost But Not Patient Satisfaction,” Charles Ornstein, ProPublica, November 19, 2015.

The New York Times (11/20, Rogers, Subscription Publication) provides tips to readers who may feel anxious and fearful in wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Mental health professionals interviewed for the article advise readers to “compare…fear with the facts,” limit their “exposure to social media and the media,” create a plan how to contact family members should something happen, maintain daily routines, and follow “basic self-care guidelines that help reduce stress.”

Related Links:

— “How to Cope With Anxiety During Terror Threats,” Katie Rogers, New York Times, November 19, 2015.

A number of news outlets based in different parts of the country cover the release of a new report, which found that from 1999 to 2013, there was a large increase in overdose deaths among teenagers and young adults in the US.

USA Today (11/20, Thadani) reports that 35 US “states saw youth drug overdose deaths increase dramatically” during the time period analyzed in the Trust for America’s Health report. The organization’s report found that in “five states – Kansas, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming – the overdose death rates more than quadrupled.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer (11/20, Sapatkin) reports, “Pennsylvania leads the nation – and New Jersey is fourth – in drug overdose deaths among young adult men, according” to the Trust for America’s Health report. The report, the Inquirer adds, raises “the level of urgency about an epidemic that over the last decade has killed more than twice as many Americans as homicide.”

Related Links:

— “Report: Youth drug overdose deaths up in 35 states over a decade,” Trisha Thadani, USA Today, November 20, 2015.