MedPage Today (10/27, Dotinga) reports “more than half of 862 emergency physicians surveyed said they’re very concerned (24%) or somewhat concerned (33%) about losing their jobs if they seek mental-health treatment, according to a survey released” by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, president-elect of ACEP, said, “Working in the front lines over the past 6 months dealing with COVID really increased the crisis. … This was not business as usual. Despite the growing toll that serving on the frontlines is having on emergency physicians, many emergency physicians feel they can’t seek the mental-health treatment that they need.” MedPage Today adds “ACEP, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other medical societies are supporting the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (S. 4249; HR 8094),” which would establish “grants and other support to prevent suicide and burnout among students, residents, and professionals in the healthcare industry.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (10/27) reports, “The percentage of young children with private insurance who were prescribed antipsychotics declined from 2009 to 2017,” investigators concluded in a study that looked at “trends in antipsychotic prescribing to children aged two to seven years who were privately insured, as recorded in a commercial claims database,” with a particular focus “on children who received prescriptions for first- and second-generation antipsychotics from 2007 through 2017.” The findings were published online Oct. 19 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

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— “Prescribing of Antipsychotics to Young Children Is Declining, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, October 27, 2020

The AP (10/26, Pane, Stobbe) reports deaths from coronavirus are increasing each day in the US and overall cases are increasing in 47 states. The AP adds that “average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.” Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said the current surge is due to the combination of “pandemic fatigue,” “pandemic anger,” and cold weather. Dr. Osterholm added, “When you put those three together, we shouldn’t be surprised what we’re seeing.”

Bloomberg (10/26, Levin) reports the record spike in cases “started with young Americans,” but “is increasingly finding older communities at elevated risk of severe illness.” According to the latest CDC data, “counties with the largest 65-and-over populations are now recording on average 18.9 daily cases per 100,000 residents, 67% higher than a month ago.”

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— “Coronavirus deaths are rising again in the US, as feared “Lisa Marie Pane and Mike Stobbe, AP, October 26, 2020

Healio (10/26, Gramigna) reports, “A universal prevention program effectively reduced suicidal ideation and depression symptoms among a general Air Force population,” researchers concluded in a study that “sought to determine whether Wingman-Connect, a network health suicide and depression prevention program for the United States Air Force, reduced suicidal ideation, depression and occupational problems among Airmen-in-training vs. a stress management program.” The research “took place at a U.S. Air Force technical school among 1,485 participants in 215 classes.” The findings of the “cluster randomized clinical trial” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Universal prevention program reduces suicidal ideation, depression among Air Force members “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 26, 2020

Healio (10/23, Gramigna) reported, “Rural Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia had worse outcomes than their urban counterparts,” investigators concluded in a study that “sought to outline trajectories and survival of hospital, nursing home, hospice and home health care use among 555,333 Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in the six years following diagnosis.” The findings of the “retrospective cohort study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Rural Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia have worse outcomes “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 23, 2020