HealthDay (6/23, Norton) reports, “Hate crime laws that protect gay, lesbian and transgender people may have an unexpected benefit: fewer teen suicide attempts, among kids of all sexual orientations,” investigators concluded in a study revealing that “teen suicide attempts dipped by an average 16%, compared to rates before the laws.” Included in the study were “responses from more than 679,000 U.S. high school students who took part in a federal health survey between 1991 and 2018.” The findings were published online June 23 in the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.

Related Links:

— “Youth Suicide Attempts Drop in U.S. States With Hate Crime Laws “Amy Norton, HealthDay, June 23, 2022

Healio (6/22, Herpen) reports, “Despite advances in treatment, patients with schizophrenia have faced obstacles in obtaining an education, with the largest gap occurring in high-income countries,” researchers concluded in a 3,321-study systematic review and meta-analysis that encompassed 318,632 patients. The findings were published in the July issue of The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Patients with schizophrenia face more educational obstacles in higher-income nations “Robert Herpen, Healio, June 22, 2022

Reuters (6/22, Khandekar) reports, “Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.” The data collected by the “Census Bureau and analyzed by the” CDC also “found that younger adults were more likely to have persistent symptoms than older adults,” and women were “more likely to have long COVID than men.”

Related Links:

— “Nearly 1 in 5 adults who had COVID have lingering symptoms – U.S. study “Amruta Khandekar, Reuters, June 22, 2022

Healio (6/22, Herpen) reports, “Prevalence of clinically significant anxiety and depression among adults in the United States increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior years,” researchers concluded after examining data “from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System…a state-based monthly telephone survey in which 1,429,354 adults responded (1,093,663 from 2017 to 2019; 335,691 from March to December 2020).” The findingswere published online June 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Prevalence of anxiety, depression in U.S. adults elevated in first year of pandemic ” Robert Herpen, Healio, June 22, 2022

The Washington Post (6/21, McGinley) reports, “The Biden administration said Tuesday it plans to develop a rule requiring tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes sold in the United States to minimally or nonaddictive levels.” This is “an effort that, if successful, could have an unprecedented effect in slashing smoking-related deaths and threaten a politically powerful industry.” The Administration’s notice “said the Food and Drug Administration intends by May 2023 to develop a proposed standard ‘that would establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and certain finished tobacco products.’”

The New York Times (6/21, A1, Jewett, Jacobs) and Reuters (6/21, Shakil, Khandekar, Sharma) also report.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)