NBC Nightly News (7/22, story 11, 2:25, Diaz-Balart) reported that the city of Buffalo, New York has implemented a new program through its court system to address the opioid problem, in which intervention is begun “immediately after users are arrested, getting them treatment inside the justice system.”

Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez said Judge Craig Hannah is “presiding over the nation’s first opioid crisis intervention court of its kind. Unlike typical drug courts, this program gets users into treatment within hours of their arrest, not weeks. It requires detox, strict curfews, and checking in with Judge Hannah every day for a month.” Hannah said, “I think the tide is changing in our country that you can’t lock away an addict; you have to give treatment.”

HealthDay (7/21, Preidt) reported, “Nearly one in five American adults deals with a mental illness or substance abuse problem each year,” research from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) suggests. The study found that “overall, almost 44 million Americans 18 or older had a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder in the past year, researchers” found after reviewing “national surveys on drug use and health.”

Related Links:

— “Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Adults Has Mental Illness or Drug Problem,”Robert Preidt , HealthDay, July 20, 2017.

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— “,” , , July , 2017. (7/20, Szabo) reports that people who are “hospitalized for heart attack or chest pain” are approximately “four times” more likely to “develop major depression” than the general population, according to the American Heart Association. The article adds that more health systems are trying “collaborative care,” where “care managers” work with primary care physicians to address physical and mental health conditions together. The article quotes Dr. Anita Everett, president of the American Psychiatric Association, as praising care managers for their ability to reach out to patients and not allow them to “stay at home and get depressed.”

Related Links:

— “Depression in heart attack survivors is common, often untreated,” Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News, July 20, 2017.

MedPage Today (7/19, Fiore) reported, “An intensive, personalized approach to high-utilizer pain patients that integrated psychiatric and pain care lowered overall healthcare costs at one health system,” investigators found. In fact, “referral to Duke University’s Medical Pain Service saved the system about $9,000 per patient per year,” the 31-patient study revealed. The findings were presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Integrated Pain-Psych Management Program Saves Dollars,” Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today, July19 , 2017.

ABC World News Tonight (7/19, story 10, 0:25, Muir) reported that a Swedish study is “exploring the possible link between pregnant women using antidepressants and autism.” Investigators found that “mothers taking antidepressants may have a slightly greater risk of having a child with autism.” Nevertheless, the study authors “call that risk very small and say stopping treatments during pregnancy may cause a worse risk in other ways to both mother and baby.”

AFP (7/19) reports that “just over four percent of the children exposed to mood-enhancing medications were diagnosed with autism, while just under three percent of children not exposed to antidepressants – and whose mothers had a history of psychiatric troubles – were found to be on the spectrum.” The findings were published online July 19 in the BMJ.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants during pregnancy linked to autism in kids: study,” AFP, July 19, 2017.