Modern Healthcare (11/10, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reports that a study involving “more than 50,000 Medi-Cal patients ages 18 and older diagnosed with severe mental illness who take antipsychotic medications” suggests that nearly “three-quarters…are not being adequately screened for diabetes despite a higher likelihood of chronic disease in that population.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Many adults with severe mental illness aren’t adequately screened for diabetes,” Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, November 9, 2015.

Reuters (11/7, Rapaport) reported that children subjected to multiple moves may have an increased likelihood for mental health problems compared to peers who do not move, a study published online Oct. 16 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests. After following some 50,000 children in Northern Ireland for a decade, researchers found that children who underwent five or more moves had three times the likelihood of having a mental health problem.

Related Links:

— “Moving during childhood linked to poor mental health,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 6, 2015.

In a letter to the editor of the New York Times (11/6, A26, Subscription Publication) regarding a front-page article called “Rise in Deaths for US Whites in Middle Age,” Maria A. Oquendo, MD, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, observes that “death rates due to suicide and poisoning” are a “tragedy.” Dr. Oquendo calls for “routine screening and treatment for common psychiatric conditions like depression and substance use disorders, crucial antecedents of suicide and poisonings” in order to “stem the tide of deaths in what could be the prime of life.”

Related Links:

— “,” Maria A Oquendo, New York Times, November 6, 2015.

HealthDay (11/4, Dotinga) reports that an 87-participant study published in Health Psychology indicates that a patient’s doubts about the effectiveness of a medication may actually influence the medicine’s effectiveness. Researchers found that a placebo pain medication that was labeled with a brand name provided as much headache relief as ibuprofen, but placebo pills with a generic label appeared not to have the same effect. The study, “although small and only in college students,” suggests that the branding on a placebo could influence its effect.

Related Links:

— “People Have Less Faith in Generic Drugs, Study Suggests,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report, November 5, 2015.

Modern Healthcare (11/3, Muchmore, Subscription Publication) reports that a provision “keeping a House mental health reform bill from relatively easy passage involves assisted outpatient treatment [AOT].” Some organizations “and about 20 Democrats in the House Energy & Commerce Committee say…AOT is not proven to be helpful and the law as currently written would punish the five states that don’t have AOT laws on the books.” But, “John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, said AOT treatment is necessary.” In fact, “the practice is supported by the US Justice Department, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, American Psychiatric Association and National Alliance on Mental Illness, he said.”

Related Links:

— “Congress wrestles with court-ordered mental health treatment,” Shannon Muchmore, Modern Healthcare, November 2, 2015.