MedPage Today (9/9, Monaco) reported, “Youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “saw mildly different growth trajectories with certain popular medications, researchers reported” in findings presented in a poster at Psych Congress 2023. The study revealed that when “compared with youth prescribed lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX; Vyvanse), those who took delayed release/extended-release methylphenidate (DR/ER-MPH; Jornay PM) saw a greater weight trajectory in the first year after starting treatment.” Included in the final study sample were “83 patients on DR/ER-MPH, 240 on OROS MPH, and 403 on LDX.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Newsday (NY) (9/10, Spangler) reports, “More than 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the volume of research on responders and survivors is substantial and growing, yielding sometimes unexpected, potentially powerful revelations about the long-term physical and mental effects of exposure to disaster.” The National database of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed, “lists roughly 1,300 scientific papers about the World Trade Center with close to 60 published in the last year alone.” Some of the most recent “papers examine links between exposure to what doctors have called the ‘toxic cocktail’ of gas and dust at Ground Zero and cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular conditions, along with trends in substance use and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

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— “9/11 first responders health: Study of how Ground Zero exposure affected workers yields powerful results, Newsday , September 10, 2023

CNN (9/8, Musa) reported, “The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will now be available to the millions of people across the US who use American Sign Language (ASL), according to” HHS. These “ASL services launched” Sept. 8 “will be available for callers who are deaf, deaf-blind or hard of hearing using a videophone,” and “callers can now be connected to a 988 Lifeline counselor trained in ASL by clicking on the ‘ASL Now’ button on 988lifeline.org and following the prompts.”

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— “988 mental health crisis line launches American Sign Language services for callers who are deaf and hard of hearing,”Amanda Musa, CNN, September 8, 2023

Bloomberg Law (9/7, Lopez, Subscription Publication) reports that on Thursday, the administration “proposed regulatory revisions to curb disability discrimination in government-funded programs, aiming to update a decades-old regulation that is out of step with the Americans With Disabilities Act and other federal laws.” The HHS “Department’s Office for Civil Rights previously weighed issuing guidance on the matter,” but “the OCR, the administration arm that issued the proposed rule, said on Reginfo.gov that ‘not taking regulatory action could result in continued discrimination, inequitable treatment and even untimely deaths of people with disabilities.’”

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— “Updated Disability Protections Proposed by Biden HHS Agency (2),”Ian Lopez , Bloomberg Law, September 7, 2023

KFF Health News (9/7, Saint Louis) reports, “Since the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline transitioned a year ago to the three-digit crisis phone number 988, there has been a 33% increase in the number of calls, chats, and texts to the hotline,” but “even with that early sign of success, the program’s financial future is shaky.” For the past “two years, the federal government has provided about $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Safer Communities acts to launch the number, designed as an alternative to 911 for those experiencing a mental health crisis.” But, “after that infusion runs out, it’s up to states to foot the bill for their call centers,” and many states, particularly “predominantly rural ones” where 988 is particularly needed, “have not made long-term plans to provide support.”

Related Links:

— “Most States Have Yet to Permanently Fund 988. Call Centers Want Certainty,”Christina Saint Louis, KFF Health News, September 7, 2023