Healio (1/6, Rhoades) reports, “Genetic predisposition for schizophrenia and frequent use of cannabis both independently corresponded with an increased likelihood of developing psychosis, results of a case-control study showed.” But, “researchers found no evidence of an interaction between genetic predisposition and cannabis use.” The findings were published in Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use, schizophrenia genetic predisposition both independently raise psychosis risk,” Andrew Rhoades, Healio, January 7, 2025

CNN (12/30, Christensen ) reports, “Tiny packets of nicotine have quickly become a big problem for parents and schools.” Sold “under names like Zyn, O! Rogue, Juice Head and VELO,” such “products are supposed to be sold only to people over 21,” but “a growing number of children have reported using these types of smokeless oral nicotine packets.” The packets “have quickly become one of the most-used nicotine products among kids and young adults, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, second only to vaping.”

Related Links:

— “For young users, tobacco packets like Zyn are a nicotine trend that just won’t quit,” Jen Christensen, CNN, December 30, 2025

ProPublica (12/30, Eldeib , Miller , Berg ) reports, “Many Americans have faced the denial of mental health treatment by their insurance companies – at times despite vivid evidence of the risk such decisions pose.” And while “in most cases patients don’t appeal,” a small percentage of “patients and their families decide to fight the denials in federal court, setting up a David-versus-Goliath battle where insurers frequently have the upper hand.” Such cases, “ProPublica found, expose in blunt terms how insurance companies can put their clients’ health in jeopardy, in ways that some judges have ruled ‘arbitrary and capricious.’” In order “to do so, court records reveal, the insurers have turned to a coterie of psychiatrists and have continued relying on them even after one or more of their decisions have been criticized or overturned in court.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts,” Duaa Eldeib and Maya Miller, with research by Kirsten Berg, ProPublica, December 30, 2024

The Hill (12/31, Choi ) reported, “A key cost-saving provision of the Inflation Reduction Act goes into effect in the new year, limiting annual out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs to $2,000 for Medicare beneficiaries.” As of “Jan. 1, 2025, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year.” The “annual cap will be indexed to the rate of inflation every year going forward.” The Hill added, “An interim spending cap of roughly $3,500 was put in place in 2024.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare’s new drug price cap kicks in Jan. 1,” Joseph Choi, The Hill, December 31, 2024

Psychiatric News (12/31) reported, “One-third of Americans (33%) have made New Year’s resolutions related to mental health heading into 2025, according to the latest APA Healthy Minds Monthly poll.” That “represents a 5% increase over last year and the highest rate since APA began polling on this question in 2021.”

Related Links:

— “More Americans Are Making Mental Health Resolutions for 2025,” Psychiatric News, December 31, 2024