The AP (5/9) reported, “A new public education campaign in Iowa is warning teenagers and their parents of the dangers of synthetic drugs, which are created to mimic marijuana, cocaine and other illegal substances. Officials from law enforcement, public health and drug control policy announced the Speak Out Against Synthetic Drugs campaign on Monday.” Indeed, the state “bans several forms of synthetic drugs, but new varieties that skirt the state’s definition and retain all the potent effects continue to pop up.”

Related Links:

— “Campaign warns of dangers of evolving synthetic drugs,”AP , Omaha World Herald, May 9, 2012.

The AP (5/9) reports, “New York regulators have fined 15 insurers $2.7 million for failing to notify small businesses they were eligible to buy special coverage for mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky says they are the first fines under Timothy’s Law,” which “requires insurers give small employers the option of purchasing the mental health benefits when they buy or renew basic health insurance plans.”

The Buffalo (NY) News (5/10, Epstein) reports, “State insurance regulators have fined 15 health insurers — including two in Western New York — a total of $2.7 million for failing to comply with the state’s Timothy’s Law requirement that they tell small businesses about mental health coverage options.” These are “the first-ever such penalties against insurers for violating the five-year-old mental health parity law, which became effective in 2007.” The companies “were cited by the Department of Financial Services because they didn’t inform clients that they could buy special insurance coverage for mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances,” which is “a requirement of Timothy’s Law.”

Related Links:

— “NY fines 15 insurers over mental health notices,”AP, The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2012.

Numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times and the MSNBC website, run positive stories noting that Veterans Affairs is involved with a Facebook campaign that aims to prevent suicides in the veteran populations.
For example, the Los Angeles Times (5/10, Maltais) reports, “Facebook is connecting with military-support and service organizations to offer customized suicide-prevention services for veterans, active service members and their families.” In “conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the nonprofit organization Blue Star Families, Facebook has unveiled a literal lifeline within the site, with informational and response tools customized for service members and their families.”

On its website, MSNBC (5/10, Golijan) reports that Facebook will offer, “among other things, ways to reach the Veterans Crisis Line, which connects veterans (and their friends and families) to qualified” VA “responders via phone, online chat or text messaging.”

On its website, WRC-TV Washington (5/10, Roberts) points out, however, that “Facebook had already provided suicide prevention measures in the past through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, but did not have the customized services that are now available to military families, personnel, and veterans.”

Related Links:

— “Facebook offers suicide-prevention lifeline for military families,”Michelle Maltais, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2012.

Medscape (5/9, Brooks) reports, “Eating disorders increase the risk of dying prematurely,” according to a study presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. “The study involved 2,329 women and 113 men treated in a specialized eating disorder clinic at Helsinki University Central Hospital between 1995 and 2010.” After calculating “relative risks for mortality due to all causes, all external causes of injuries and accidents, and suicide,” researchers found that “patients with an eating disorder were at increased risk of dying prematurely relative to” people without eating disorders.

Related Links:

— “Eating Disorders Linked to Increased Risk for Early Death,”Megan Brooks, Medscape Today, May 8, 2012.

HealthDay (5/9, Dallas) reports that according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, “even a friend’s parents can influence whether or not a teen drinks alcohol or uses drugs. If the parents of your teen’s friends are unaware of their child’s drug or alcohol use, or worse, condone it, that may make your child more likely to partake as well.” The study was based on a survey of “about 9,000 ninth-graders from rural school districts about their closest friends, their parents’ discipline and if their parents knew who their friends were.”

Related Links:

— “Friends’ Parents Can Sway Teens’ Odds for Drinking, Smoking,”Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, May 8, 2012.