The New York Times (11/7, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports the Obama Administration “is stepping up enforcement of laws that require equal insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses, a move officials say will help combat an opioid overdose epidemic.” In late October, a White House task force “found that compliance” with Federal mental health parity laws and regulations has been “lagging” and “said insurers needed to understand that coverage for the treatment of drug addiction must be comparable to that for other conditions like depression, schizophrenia, cancer and heart disease.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Enforcing Insurance Law to Help Fight Opioid Abuse,”Robert Pear, The New York Times, November 7, 2016.

In the Washington Post (11/5) “Wonkblog,” Christopher Ingraham wrote, “The autumn shift” from daylight savings “to standard time appears to be closely linked to a jump in depression diagnoses,” researchers found after examining “a database of 185,419 depression diagnoses in Denmark from 1995 to 2012.” After “comparing the rates of depression diagnoses before and after time changes in the spring and fall,” investigators “found that ‘the transition from summer time to standard time were associated with an 11 percent increase…in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes.” The study was published online Oct. 20 in Epidemiology. HealthDay (11/6, Preidt) and Healio (11/4, Oldt) also covered the study.

Related Links:

— “Turning back the clock 1 hour takes a serious toll on your mental health,”Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post, November 5, 2016.

MedPage Today (11/4, Kneisel) reported that research suggests “amyloid brain scans can change diagnosis and treatment choice in patients with cognitive impairment.” However, “the researchers cautioned that the effect of amyloid PET scanning on morbidity and mortality, as well as its cost-effectiveness, remains to be assessed.” The findings of the 228-patient study were published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Amyloid Scans Change Dementia Diagnoses,”Kate Kneisel, MedPage Today, November 4, 2016.

The San Diego Union-Tribune (11/1, Prine) reports that according to a new “report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,” wives of military service members appear to be “more likely than their civilian peers to abuse prescription medications meant to treat anxiety,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity “disorder and other psychological problems.” Additionally, military wives may be “more likely than other married women to suffer from mental illness, consume liquor and binge drink, according to the analysis.”

Related Links:

— “Report: military wives more likely to suffer mental illness, alcohol abuse,” CARL PRINE, San Diego Union-Tribune, November 2, 2016.

Medwire News (11/2, McDermid) reports investigators “say that physicians should be alert for worsening depression in patients with type 1 diabetes, after finding it to be associated with poor metabolic control.” The study included “313 patients, aged 28 years on average, 258 of whom participated in all five annual follow-up assessments.” The findings were published online Oct. 27 in Diabetologia.

Related Links:

— “Worsening depression flags poor glycemic control in type 1 diabetes,” Eleanor McDermid, MedWire News, November 2, 2016.