The New York Times (1/4, Kaplan) reported that the Food and Drug Administration “is accusing Juul and Altria of reneging on promises they made to the government to keep e-cigarettes away from minors.” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., “is drafting letters to both companies that will criticize them for publicly pledging to remove nicotine flavor pods from store shelves, while secretly negotiating a financial partnership that seems to do the opposite.” He “plans to summon top executives of the companies to F.D.A. headquarters to explain how they will stick to their agreements given their new arrangement.”

Related Links:

— “FDA accusing Juul, Altria of backing off plan to keep e-cigarettes away from minors, “Sheila Kaplan, The New York Times, January 4, 2019

Politico (1/5, Ehley) reported on efforts by mental health advocacy groups to lobby Congress to “get schizophrenia classified as a brain disease like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, instead of as a mental illness, a move that could reduce stigma and lead to more dollars for a cure.” According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “genetics, environment and an imbalance in brain chemistry all contribute to the risk of developing the condition, which may afflict upward of two million Americans,” Politico wrote. Currently, the NIMH rates schizophrenia “among the top 15 causes of disability worldwide and estimates serious mental conditions like it can reduce the average lifespan by 28 years.”

Related Links:

— “Health advocates say schizophrenia should be reclassified as a brain disease, “Brianna Ehley, Politico, January 5, 2019

CNN (1/3, Howard) reports, “There appears to be a connection between social media use and depressive symptoms in 14-year-olds, and that connection may be much stronger for girls than boys,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on 10,904 14-year-olds who were born between 2000 and 2002 in the” UK. The findings were published online Jan. 4 in EClinicalMedicine. CNN adds that child and adolescent psychiatrist Gary Maslow, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Duke University, explained that “he often points his patients’ families to the American Academy of Pediatrics for tips on how to establish healthy social media habits in the home.” Also covering the study are Reuters (1/4, Kelland) and The Guardian (UK) (1/4, Campbell).

Related Links:

— “Link between social media and depression stronger in teen girls than boys, study says, “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, January 3, 2019

MedPage Today (1/4) reports a study by researchers at Duke University analyzing data from the UK suggests “self-harm in adolescents was associated with more than threefold higher risk of committing violent crime…with certain risk factors raising the likelihood of ‘dual harm.’” The findings were published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage (requires login and subscription)

The NPR (1/2, Herman) “Shots” blog reports, “Two-thirds of states don’t keep track of how many families give up custody to help the child get mental health services.” However, research “by the Government Accountability Office found that back in 2001, more than 12,000 families in 19 states did exactly that.” Advocates for people with mental illness “blame decades of inadequate funding for in-home and community-based services across the country – a lack of funding that has chipped away at the mental health system.” The article follows the story of one family’s heartbreaking decision to help their child.

Related Links:

— “To Get Mental Health Help For A Child, Desperate Parents Relinquish Custody, “Christine Herman, NPR, January 02, 2019