The New York Times (2/14, Jewett ) reports, “The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday that they would examine the causes of generic drug shortages and the practices of ‘powerful middlemen’ that are involved in the supply chain.” The investigation “is aimed at the group purchasing organizations and drug distributors that have been in the spotlight in recent months as drug shortages reached a 10-year peak.” FTC and HHS “want to examine the companies’ influence on how the drugs are sold to hospitals and other health facilities, assessing whether the middlemen put pressure on pricing and manufacturing that led to breakdowns.”

Reuters (2/14, Leo) reports, “The FTC will seek information about drug distributors and hospital purchasing groups and their contracting practices, market concentration and compensation.” The agency “will examine if these companies have misused their market power to push down prices of generic drugs so much that some manufacturers cannot profit and have stopped production, in turn causing the shortages.”

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— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (2/14, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “Patients hospitalized for depression had a very high risk of suicide in the first few days after discharge, a longitudinal Finnish registry study showed.” The “analysis of nearly 200,000 hospitalizations for depression from 1996 to 2017 revealed a suicide incidence rate of 6,062 per 100,000 person-years during days 0-3 following discharge.” The data indicated that “suicide incidence remained high but fell to 3,884 per 100,000 person-years in the 4-7 days after discharge…and continued to fall thereafter.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (2/14, Miller) reports, “When bullies destroy a young victim’s trust, mental health problems are likely to follow them into adulthood, a new study warns.” Investigators “looked at data from 10,000 children in the U.K. who were followed for nearly 20 years.” The “researchers found that kids who were bullied at age 11 and then became distrustful by age 14 were roughly 3.5 times more likely to have mental health problems by age 17 than those who were more trusting.” The research was published in Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Being Bullied in Childhood More Than Triples Risk of Mental Health Struggles Later,”Carole Tanzer Miller, HealthDay, February 14, 2024

HCP Live (2/13, Derman) reports, “Video and phone telehealth appointments, non-English speakers, older adults > 75 years old, and patients on Medicaid were less likely to have depression screenings during” the COVID-19 pandemic “than in-person visits, English speakers, patients aged 18 – 30 years, and patients with private insurance, a new study found.” This study, which “examined 57,301 eligible visits with 37,250 patients,” was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Depression Screening Rates during COVID-19 Low Among Telehealth Appointments,”Chelsie Derman, HCP Live , February 13, 2024

Healio (2/13, Rhoades) reports, “A greater daily intake of sugar in people’s diets was associated with a higher prevalence of depression, according to a study.” Investigators “found that, after adjusting for several confounders, a 100 g per day increase in sugar was associated with a 28% higher prevalence of depression.” The researchers also found that “compared with participants in the first quartile of daily sugar intake — meaning, those who consumed the least amount of sugar each day — participants in the fourth quartile had an OR of 1.33…for depression.” The findings were published in BMC Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study: High daily sugar intake increases risk for depression,”Andrew (Drew) Rhoades, Healio, February 13, 2024