The AP (4/1, Johnson, Cano) reports those who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction may face challenges in their recovery during the coronavirus pandemic. Physicians and therapists “are finding ways to work with patients in person or by phone and trying to keep them in treatment.” For instance, “in Olympia, Washington, a clinic for opioid addiction now meets patients outdoors and offers longer prescriptions of the treatment drug buprenorphine – four weeks, up from two – to reduce visits and the risk of infection,” according to one expert. In other areas, “federal health officials are allowing patients to take home methadone, another treatment drug.”

Related Links:

— “Virus outbreak creates new challenges for addiction recovery, ” Carla K. Johnson and Regina Garcia Cano, AP, April 1, 2020

Healio (4/1, Gramigna) reports, “Psychosocial stressors at work were linked to a higher risk for sickness absence among workers because of a mental disorder,” researchers concluded. Among the study’s conclusions was that “exposure to high psychological demands combined with low job control causes job strain, which can lead to health problems.” The findings of the 23-study “systematic review and meta-analysis” were published online April 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “On-the-job psychosocial stressors increase risk for sickness absence due to mental disorders, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 1, 2020

Healio (3/31, Gramigna) reports, “Patients at risk for suicide should be prevented from accessing” medications “with high case fatality rates,” investigators concluded after analyzing data on “421,466 poisoning suicidal acts that resulted in 21,594 deaths.” The findings of the “cross-sectional study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Restricting suicidal patients’ access to drugs with high case fatality rates vital to suicide prevention, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 31, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/30) reports that last week in a 6-3 ruling (pdf) in favor of the state in Kahler v. Kansas, “the US Supreme Court ruled…states can prevent criminal defendants from pleading insanity without violating their constitutional rights.” Both “experts in psychiatry and the law said that the decision could have significant consequences.” Paul Appelbaum, MD, “a member of APA’s Committee on Judicial Action,” said, “The most immediate impact of the case is on Kansas and the four other states that have elected to effectively get rid of their insanity defenses. Their laws will remain valid.” Meanwhile, “Debra Pinals, MD, chair of the APA Council on Psychiatry and Law,” stated, “Persons with serious mental illness who engage in criminal behavior living in states with narrower criteria for insanity, or in states with no insanity defense, will likely be found guilty and sentenced.”

Related Links:

— “Supreme Court Upholds States’ Rights to Nullify Insanity Defense, Psychiatric News, March 30, 2020

CNN (3/29, Holcombe) reports the US extended “its set of social distancing guidelines until April 30, President Trump said in a news briefing at the White House on Sunday.” President Trump “said he hopes the country will be on its way to recovery by June 1.”

Related Links:

— “US coronavirus cases top 139,000 as Trump extends social distancing guidelines until April 30, “Madeline Holcombe and Dakin Andone, CNN, March 29, 2020