USA Today (4/12, Alltucker) reports, “The Biden administration’s drug czar on Wednesday announced that illicit fentanyl spiked with the animal tranquilizer xylazine is an ‘emerging threat,’ a designation that will allow the federal government to marshal resources to counteract the street drug combination found in most states.” This marks “the first time the United States has declared a drug such a threat, a category enabled by a 2018 federal bill, said” Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP, MBA. Gupta “said his office is seeking $11 million to help create a strategy to stop its spread, develop an antidote and research how it has gotten into the drug supply, according to the Associated Press.”

The Hill (4/12, Weixel) reports the drug “Xylazine, also known as ‘tranq,’ is an easily accessible veterinary drug approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever.” However, “it is also being used by drug dealers as a low-cost cutting agent in drugs like fentanyl as a way to extend a user’s high.”

Related Links:

— “Animal ‘tranq’ xylazine is becoming a deadly threat. Here’s how the US is trying to stop it. “Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, April 12, 2023

Healio (4/12, Bascom) reports, “Though popular dietary interventions that include polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs, and elemental metals do not seem to alleviate perinatal depression, vitamin D may be promising in this regard,” investigators concluded in a 36-study, 7,010-participant systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online April 3 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In particular, “vitamin D taken in daily doses of 1,800 to 3,500 international units offered small to medium effect size improvements for postpartum depression,” but “further research is needed to assess causal interactions of dietary interactions on perinatal anxiety or depression.”

Related Links:

— “Vitamin D may be effective treatment for perinatal depression “Emma Bascom, Healio, April 12, 2023

Medscape (4/12, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) appears to have a small advantage over ketamine for improving depressive symptoms in adults with a major depressive episode,” researchers concluded in the findings of a five-study, 278-patient systematic review and meta-analysis published online April 12 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry. HCPlive (4/12, Walter) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

CNN (4/11, McPhillips) reports on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found nearly one in five US “adults has had a family member killed by a gun, including in homicide and suicide.”

In separate coverage of the same survey, NPR (4/11, Simmons-Duffin) reports the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can help people who are contemplating suicide.

Kaiser Health News (4/11, Szabo) reports, “The national survey of 1,271 adults conducted by KFF revealed the severe physical and psychological harm exacted by firearm violence, especially in minority communities.”

Related Links:

— “Gun violence has affected most families in the US, new survey finds “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, April 11, 2023

Psychiatric News (4/11) reports, “The anniversary of a parent’s death appears to be associated with an increased risk of suicide among women,” investigators concluded in a “case-crossover study” that relied on “linked data from 1990 to 2016 from multiple Swedish registers.” The study team “focused their analysis on” 7,694 “adults aged 18 to 65 who had experienced the death of a parent and later died of suicide.” The findings were published online April 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Anniversary of Parent’s Death Linked to Increased Suicide Risk in Some Adult Children, Psychiatric News, April 11, 2023