The Los Angeles Times (1/1, Wiley ) reports that “drug overdose deaths in San Francisco plummeted in 2024, according to preliminary data compiled by city health officials.” The Times adds, “San Francisco public health experts attributed the decline in fatal drug use in the city to the widespread availability of naloxone…as well as buprenorphine and methadone, prescription medications that treat opioid addiction long-term.”

Related Links:

— “Drug overdose deaths plummet in San Francisco. What’s changed?,” Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, January 1, 2025

The Washington Post (1/3, A1, Ho , Nirappil ) reported, “Health warning labels on alcohol should be updated to include a cancer risk warning, the U.S. surgeon general said Friday, adding that recommended limits for alcohol consumption should also be reassessed, given the increased risk of certain cancers.” The consumption of alcohol “is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States behind tobacco and obesity, Vivek H. Murthy said in an advisory [PDF].” Alcohol consumption “contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year, he added.”

CNN (1/3, Tinker, Tirrell , Goodman ) reported, “The American Medical Association, which has long recognized alcohol as a cancer risk, cheered the new advisory.” In a statement, AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said, “Today’s advisory, coupled with a push to update the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcoholic beverages, will bolster awareness, improve health, and save lives.”

Related Links:

— “US surgeon general sounds alarm about link between alcohol and cancer,” Ben Tinker, Meg Tirrell and Brenda Goodman, CNN, January 3, 2025

Psychiatric News (1/3) reported, “Key telehealth service flexibilities will be extended for Medicare beneficiaries until March 31, 2025, as part of the American Relief Act, signed by President Biden on December 21.” Under “the Relief Act, Medicare beneficiaries can continue to receive telehealth services from any location, including their homes.” The bill also “extends the waiver of the requirement for an initial in-person visit prior to a telemental health visit and also continues the extension of telehealth services to federally qualified health centers and rural health centers.”

Related Links:

— “Congress Extends Telehealth Flexibilities for Medicare Beneficiaries,” Psychiatric News, January 3, 2025

HealthDay (1/3, Thompson ) reported, “Socially awkward young adults are more prone to regularly binge drink, but they back off their boozing bouts as they become older and more secure.” New research “shows that young adults who are more self-conscious appear to binge drink more often.” But, “these same self-conscious people had lower rates of binge drinking as they grew older, researchers discovered in a psychological experiment.” The findings were published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Related Links:

— “Feeling Self-Conscious Is Linked to Teen Binge Drinking,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, January 3, 2025

HCPlive (1/4, Derman) reported, “A recent study found social determinants of suicide mortality include being involved in the justice system, exposure to parental and others’ suicide, firearm accessibility, divorce, experience in foster care, release from incarceration, and midlife unemployment (35 – 65 years).” Among these, people “released from [incarceration] demonstrated the greatest prevalence of suicide mortality.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study Identifies Social Determinants of Suicide Mortality, Suicide Attempts,” Chelsie Derman