The NPR (5/20, Shute) “Shots” blog reports that “suicide remains a leading cause of death in the United States, especially among teenagers and young adults.” However, “asking everyone who goes to the doctor if he is considering suicide isn’t the answer” to solving the problem, “according to” the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

HealthDay (5/20, Preidt) reports that a final recommendation from the USPSTF published online May 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine has deemed there is still insufficient “evidence to recommend either for or against patients getting routinely screened for suicide risk by their primary care” physicians. The “ruling applies to when doctors are dealing with teens, adults and older adults without a mental health disorder or symptoms of mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “Task Force Says Asking All Patients About Suicide Won’t Cut Risk,” Nancy Shute, National Public Radio, May 19, 2014.

In a 2,300-word piece, Gate House Media (5/17, Pierce) reported, “A mentally ill person can be forced to undergo diagnosis and treatment under certain conditions laid out in state involuntary commitment laws, and some states are examining those laws in an effort to prevent tragedies.” The majority of “states with proactive involuntary outpatient commitment laws require a history of past noncompliance with treatment, coupled with past hospitalizations and arrests, before a person can be forced into treatment.”

It is now estimated that “up to one in five inmates in jail and state prisons are mentally ill, according to separate reports by the US Justice Department and American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “Focus: Safety concerns prompt states to revisit involuntary commitment laws that address mentally ill,” David Pierce, GateHouse Media, May 17, 2014.

The AP (5/16, Gurman) reported that some US police unions “are pushing for officers to be able to collect workers’ compensation benefits if they suffer post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], whether they got it from the general stress of police work or from responding to a deadly shooting rampage.” However, “some police chiefs and municipal leaders oppose lawmakers’ efforts,” saying that “they are concerned the benefits would strain budgets and lead to frivolous claims.”

Related Links:

— “POLICE UNIONS PUSH FOR MEDICAL COVERAGE OF PTSD,” Sadie Gurman, Associated Press, May 16, 2014.

The New York Times (5/17, Schwarz, Subscription Publication) reported that according to CDC data released Friday, “more than 10,000 American toddlers 2 or 3 years old are being medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder outside established pediatric guidelines.” The article goes on to explain that “very few scientific studies have examined the use of stimulant medications in young children,” though the National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a small-scale study in 2006.

Related Links:

— “Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds, Raising Worries,” Alan Schwarz, New York Times, May 16, 2014.

CNN (5/14, Kounang) “The Chart” blog reported that about 50 percent of all Americans “take at least one prescription drug each month,” while 10 percent take “more than four,” citing a report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The annual report, titled “Health, United States, 2013” included a special section on prescription drugs this year. It noted, for instance, that Americans spend “a lot on prescription drugs. In 2011, Americans spent $263 billion on prescription drugs, which accounts for 9.7% of all national health expenditures (up from 5.6% in 1990).”

MSNBC (5/15) reported that heart medications “topped the list of most common prescription drugs.” The article noted that cardiovascular medication for treating high blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease, “along with drugs to target cholesterol saw the highest usage reported in the three-year span.”

Related Links:

— “50% of Americans take prescription drugs,” Nadia Kounang, CNN, May 14, 2014.