Psychiatric News (5/17) reports, “State policies that criminalize or punish pregnant women and adolescent girls for prenatal substance abuse may have a negative impact on outcomes such as opioid overdose and seeking treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD),” researchers concluded after having “analyzed data from 164,538 females between the ages of 15 and 45 years who had a diagnosis of OUD between 2006 and 2019, of which 13% were pregnant at least once during that time.” The study team then “compared changes in outcomes in pregnant women and adolescent girls in states with and without…prenatal substance use policies, before and after the implementation of the policies.” The findings were published online May 10 ahead of print in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

Related Links:

— “Policies That Criminalize Perinatal Substance Use Linked to Poor Outcomes in Mothers, Psychiatric News, May 17, 2022

Healio (5/17, VanDewater) reports, “Women with a history of depression were more likely to use marijuana and screen positive for postpartum depression than women without a history of depression,” researchers concluded after retrospectively reviewing “data from 842 patients who received prenatal care at their academic medical center between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2019.” The study also revealed a possible “link between marijuana use during pregnancy and postpartum depression regardless of depression history.” The findings were presented at the 2022 ACOG Annual Clinical & Scientific meeting.

Related Links:

— “Depression history linked to increased risk for postpartum depression, marijuana use “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, May 17, 2022

Healio (5/17, Downey) reports, “Female adolescents and teens who attempted suicide were at an increased risk for substance use disorders,” investigators concluded. The study revealed that “among 122,234 youths included (mean age, 15.6 years), 5,840 (4.8%) had attempted suicide, and 4,341 (3.6%) developed a substance use disorder.” When “compared with the 116,394 youths who did not attempt suicide (95.2%), those who did attempt to take their own life were at a greater risk for hospitalization for a substance use disorder,” the study revealed. The findings were published online May 11 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Female youths who attempt suicide at increased risk for substance use disorders “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, May 17, 2022

Bloomberg (5/16, Griffin) reports, “The U.S. government will extend the COVID-19 public-health emergency past mid-July, continuing pandemic-era policies as the nearly 2 1/2-year outbreak drags on.” Last week, several health organizations “wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the Biden administration to maintain the emergency ‘until it is clear that the global pandemic has receded and the capabilities authorized by the PHE are no longer necessary.’”

Related Links:

— “US Set to Extend Covid-19 Public Health Emergency Past July “Riley Griffin, Bloomberg, May 16, 2022

The Hill (5/16) reports, “Deaths related to alcohol use disorder surged during the pandemic, with young adults seeing an especially sharp increase, according to a recent study.” Researchers “used predictive modeling, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…to project alcohol use disorder deaths before comparing them to actual numbers,” and “found that the mortality rates increased among all ages and sexes studied.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Alcohol use disorder deaths soared during pandemic, The Hill, May 16, 2022