The Wall Street Journal (1/1, A1, Hopkins, Subscription Publication) reports that a new analysis from Rx Savings Solutions shows pharmaceutical companies are increasing prices on hundreds of drugs this year. According to the analysis, more than three dozen drugmakers raised prices on hundreds of medicines Tuesday. The Journal adds that overall, the price increases are in excess of inflation. Drugmaker Allergan increased prices by almost 10 percent on some two dozen medications, an analysis showed.

Related Links:

— “Drugmakers Raise Prices on Hundreds of Medicines, “Jared S. Hopkins, The Wall Street Journal, January 01, 2019.

The Hill (12/28, Bowden) reported “opioid-related deaths among teens and young children have nearly tripled since 1999.” The findings (12/7) were published in JAMA Network Open.

ABC News (12/28, Bracho-Sanchez) reported on its website that researchers “examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)” and found that “almost 9,000 children and young adults have died from opioid poisonings in the past 20 years.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid deaths in children, teens on the rise: study, “John Bowden, The Hill, December 28, 2018.

Psychiatric News (12/28) reported that on Dec. 26, “the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final order…to downgrade the risk category for certain uses of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).” This particular change was one “for which APA had strongly advocated, saying it could greatly expand access to safe, effective treatment for individuals with serious and persistent psychiatric disorders.

Related Links:

— “FDA Downgrades Risk Category for Certain Uses of ECT, Psychiatric News, December 28, 2018.

HealthDay (12/27, Mozes) reports, “Teens who are often bullied may be left with shrinkage in key parts of their brain, increasing their risk for mental illness,” researchers concluded after analyzing “brain scans of nearly 700 14- to 19-year-olds.” The study revealed that teens who were chronically bullied had at age 19 “reduced size in two key regions of the brain, compared to age 14” in the putamen and the caudate. The findings were published online Dec. 12 in Molecular Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Being Bullied May Alter the Teen Brain, “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, December 27, 2018.

The AP (12/26, Irvine) reports on a 12-step meeting focused on helping people for whom “tech gets in the way of daily functioning and self-care.” According to the AP, “an American Academy of Pediatrics review of worldwide research found that excessive use of video games alone is a serious problem for as many as nine percent of young people.” Just this past “summer, the World Health Organization also added ‘gaming disorder’ to its list of afflictions,” and “a similar diagnosis is being considered in the” US.

Related Links:

— “‘Hi, my name is ___, and I’m addicted to tech’, “Martha Irvine, AP, December 26, 2018.