CNN (6/26, Viswanathan) reports, “Most children in the U.S. who die from an accidental shooting are playing around with guns at home or mistaking them for toys, according to a” study that “suggests that over 90% of guns used in such shooting deaths were left unlocked and loaded.” The study, published in “Injury Epidemiology, looked at cases” of unintentional firearm fatalities among “children under 15” and found that “most of the shootings happened at the victim’s home, where, in 8 out of 10 cases, the gun belonged to an older relative.” Furthermore, “over 40% of the time, these unintentional deaths happened among kids ages 2 to 4, the researchers found.”

Related Links:

— “Most accidental shooting deaths among children involve guns left loaded and unlocked, study finds,” Giri Viswanathan, CNN, June 26, 2023

The AP (6/23, Perrone) reported that xylazine, “a powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply, is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction.” The drug “can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths – as suggested by officials in Washington – is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.”

Related Links:

— “Animal sedative xylazine in fentanyl is causing wounds and scrambling efforts to stop overdoses,” Matthew Perrone, Associated Press, June 23, 2023

Psychiatric News (6/23) reported, “The American Medical Association (AMA) is encouraging states, communities, and schools to adopt policies that allow naloxone and other overdose reversal medications to be readily accessible to teachers and school staff,” as well as “urging states, communities, and schools to ‘remove barriers to students carrying safe and effective overdose medications.’” This “policy was sponsored by the AMA Section Council on Psychiatry, which includes delegates from” the American Psychiatric Association (APA), “the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry…the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.” Kenneth Certa, MD, “an APA delegate to the section council, told Psychiatric News that the adopted resolution ‘will embolden school boards to make this change so students will not die on school campuses because no one has the necessary medication to keep them alive until EMS gets there.’”

Related Links:

— “AMA Backs Making Overdose Reversal Medications More Accessible in Schools, Psychiatric News, June 23, 2023

The Washington Post (6/25, Moe) reports, “The ‘Sing With Us’ study…is part of a growing body of research that points to the physical and mental health benefits of singing with others.” The study “linked singing in the choir to reduced stress hormones and increased cytokines, proteins that can boost the body’s ability to fight serious illness.” Other studies have revealed “a connection between singing generally with lessened anxiety, stimulated memory for those with dementia, increased lung capacity and an easing of postpartum depression.” The study was conducted by the Centre for Performance Science.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (6/22, Jewett) reports, “Sales of e-cigarettes rose by nearly 47 percent from January 2020, just before the pandemic hit the United States, to December 2022, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” This “increase…occurred while teenagers and young adults reported in surveys that they had recently tried e-cigarettes at much higher rates than older adults did.” Data show that “sales were still growing through May of last year, but then dropped by 12 percent through December.” Investigators “attributed the decline to several possible factors, including state or local bans on flavored products; government enforcement; and the introduction of devices that offered thousands of ‘puffs’ in a single device.”

Related Links:

— “E-Cigarretes Sales Tapered Off Last Year After Big Surge,”Christina Jewett, The New York Times, June 22, 2023