The New York Times (5/12, A11, Urbina, Subscription Publication) reported that “psychiatrists and other specialists who are rewriting the manual that serves as the nation’s arbiter of mental illness have agreed to revise the definition of addiction, which could result in millions more people being diagnosed as addicts and pose huge consequences for health insurers and taxpayers.” The new “revision to the manual, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, would expand the list of recognized symptoms for drug and alcohol addiction, while also reducing the number of symptoms required for a diagnosis, according to proposed changes posted on the website of the American Psychiatric Association, which produces the book.” The Times added, “The broader language involving addiction, which was debated this week at the association’s annual conference, is intended to promote more accurate diagnoses, earlier intervention and better outcomes, the association said.”

Related Links:

— “Addiction Diagnoses May Rise Under Guideline Changes,”Ian Urbina, The New York Times, May 11, 2012.

MedWire (5/12, Mahendra) reported, “Sixteen-year-olds are at the highest risk for misusing prescription pain relievers,” according to a study published online May 7 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. After analyzing data on some 119,877 teens and young adults, researchers found that “that approximately one in 60 individuals aged between 12 and 21 years used prescription pain relievers for extramedical purposes.” Notably, “the peak risk for extramedical pain reliever prescription use was highest at the age of 16 years in all participants, with approximately one in 30-40 using pain relievers to get high.”

Related Links:

— “Pain-reliever abuse risk highest among 16-year-olds,”Piriya Mahendra, MedWire News, May 11, 2012.

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.