Psychiatric News (4/6) reports, “Residential substance use treatment facilities owned by private equity firms are more expensive and may offer fewer services compared with other for-profit facilities, according to a study.” While “using a secret-shopper approach, researchers called 341 residential [substance use disorder] treatment facilities and compared the prices and services of those acquired by private equity firms with those run by other for-profit entities.” The investigators found that “mean daily rates were 15.6% ($127) higher at private equity facilities than at other for-profit facilities.” Additionally, “facilities acquired by private equity firms were less likely to offer detoxification services than other for-profit facilities (74.8% versus 88.8%).” The findings were published in JAMA Health Forum.

Related Links:

— “Private Equity-Run SUD Facilities Are Expensive, but Not Expansive, Psychiatric News , April 6, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/3) reported a study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that “among adults with methamphetamine use disorder, mirtazapine delivered in routine clinical practice reduced methamphetamine use compared with a placebo.” Researchers in 344-patient study found that “12 weeks of mirtazapine (30 mg/day) delivered in routine clinical practice produced a greater reduction in methamphetamine use days than placebo. There were no unexpected safety concerns from mirtazapine.”

Related Links:

— “Mirtazapine Effectively Treats Methamphetamine Use Disorder,Psychiatric News , April 3, 2026

HealthDay (4/2, Mundell) reported a study suggests that “boys and men can also develop eating disorders, and rates for these psychiatric issues are rising – even as psychotherapists admit they have trouble spotting and treating them.” The study noted that “by some estimates, 1 in 7 men in the United States will experience a full-syndrome eating disorder by the age of 40.” Furthermore, the report “found that psychotherapists are often ill-equipped to spot these cases. When questioned, most clinicians said they lacked formal training in spotting body dysmorphia and eating disorders in boys and men, which are focused more on muscle-building and not characterized by excessive thinness.” Indeed, “only a small minority of the psychotherapists said they’d received any training in male eating disorders during their undergraduate or graduate studies.” The study was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapists Often Poorly Trained in Treating Muscle-Linked Disorders in Males,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, April 2, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/2) says, “Children who lost fathers in the course of active-duty military service were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder one and two years after their loss, according to a report.” Children “who had lost fathers were three times more likely to have depressive disorders and four times more likely to have adjustment disorders one year after loss compared to non-bereaved children.” Additionally, “at year one, bereaved children…had more than nine times higher odds of acute stress disorder/PTSD.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Children Who Lose Fathers in Military Service at Higher Risk of Mental Disorders, Psychiatric News, April 2, 2026

Reuters (4/2, S K) says the CDC “on Thursday issued a health advisory warning of rising reports from U.S. ​jurisdictions detecting veterinary sedative medetomidine in the illegal drug ‌supply.” The CDC and the “Office of National Drug Control Policy warned public health professionals, clinicians, laboratorians and people at risk for ​overdose after medetomidine was detected in the fentanyl supply ​and linked to a severe withdrawal syndrome from exposure ⁠to it.” The two “agencies said it has increasingly been detected in law enforcement drug seizures, drug product and paraphernalia samples and wastewater samples, ​with the highest concentrations in the Northeast region.”

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— “Reuters Requires subscription.