The AP (8/4, Izaguirre) reports many homeless people who are addicted to illicit substances are denied treatment for lack of valid photo identification. According to 2016 data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, less than one of every 10 of the US’ “substance abuse treatment facilities offer certified opioid treatment programs.”

A SAMHSA spokesman said ID requirements are aimed at preventing people from enrolling in multiple programs and selling opioid medications, although one expert said some facilities deny applicants who present alternate forms of identification, despite the fact that such documents are in fact acceptable.

Related Links:

— “For homeless on heroin, treatment can be elusive with no ID,” ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE, Associated Press via Washington Times, August 4, 2017.

NBC Nightly News (8/3, story 7, 2:20, Holt) reported on “an alarming rise in girls taking their own lives.” NBC’s Rehema Ellis said that “disturbing new numbers from the CDC” indicate “too many teenagers are not getting the help they need, especially girls aged 15 to 19.”

On its website, NBC News (8/3, Fox) reports that the analysis, from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, indicates that “the suicide rate among teenaged girls continues to rise and hit a 40-year high in 2015.” Researchers found that “suicide rates doubled among girls and” increased “by more than 30 percent among teen boys and young men between 2007 and 2015.”

CNN (8/3, Scutti) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Suicides in Teen Girls Hit 40-Year High,” MAGGIE FOX, NBC News, August 3, 2017.

NPR examines the suicide of Madison Holleran, a track runner at the University of Pennsylvania, and her hidden struggle with anxiety and depression.

Related Links:

— “Trying To Understand ‘What Made Maddy Run’,” Ailsa Chang, NPR, August 2, 2017.

The AP (8/2, Tanner) reports that research published in JAMA Surgery “suggests many surgery patients often end up with leftover opioid” pain medications and “store the remaining” tablets “improperly at home.”

Reuters (8/2, Cohen) reports that investigators found that in “six earlier studies, 67 percent to 92 percent of patients who were prescribed opioids following surgery reported winding up with leftover” medication. Meanwhile, “five studies found that only one in four patients reported storing opioids in a locked location.”

Related Links:

— “LEFTOVER OPIOIDS ARE A COMMON DILEMMA FOR SURGERY PATIENTS,” LINDSEY TANNER, Associated Press, August 2, 2017.

HealthDay (8/2, Reinberg) reports that expectant mothers who take prescription opioid analgesics plus psychiatric medications “for depression or anxiety have a 30 to 60 percent greater risk of giving birth to an infant” with neonatal abstinence syndrome “than those taking opioids alone, researchers found.” What’s more, “use of two or more psychiatric drugs in addition to opioids was associated with a twofold increased risk of infant withdrawal,” the study revealed. Included in the study were data on some 200,000 pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid who had “received a prescription for an opioid” medication. The findings were published online Aug. 2 in the BMJ.

According to Medscape (8/2, Kuehn), the authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “As the US opioid epidemic accelerates in complexity, there is an urgent need to focus resources on this issue, including expansion of research funding for drug safety in pregnancy and improvement of outcomes for mothers and infants affected by opioid use disorder, more funding for prevention of the disorder, and an expansion of treatment options for affected mothers and their infants.”

Related Links:

— “Is Infant Drug Withdrawal Likelier When Opioids Used With Psychiatric Drugs?,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, August 2, 2017.