The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Invisible Epidemic
It’s an invisible epidemic, as devastating as diabetes but out of the public eye. Look around you, at your family, your neighbors, your coworkers. Chances are excellent that you’ll see someone suffering from mental illness. Nearly one in five adults in Georgia battles mental illness in any given year. Nearly half a million have had at least one major depressive episode, the latest federal data shows. — Misty Williams (Sep. 18)
Related: The Associated Press, “NYC Plan Trains Lay People As Mental Health Screeners” (Peltz, Sep. 19); The San Jose Mercury News, “Mental Health Treatment For The Bay Area Incarcerated Lacking, Officials Say” (Nelson, Sep. 19)
Disability Scoop
Feds Dole Out Millions For Disability Employment
The U.S. Department of Labor said this week that Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, New York and Washington will share in the grants totaling nearly $15 million. Each state’s labor department or workforce development agency will use the money to address various needs of jobseekers with disabilities including improving job training, facilitating the transition from school to work or offering customized approaches for those with significant needs. — Michelle Diament (Sep. 18)
Disability Scoop
Obama Administration Makes Push For Preschool Inclusion
Nearly four months after requesting public feedback on the issue, the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are jointly issuing guidance to states, school districts and early childhood providers urging them to make a place for kids with special needs. — Michelle Diament (Sep. 15)
Kaiser Health News
Surge In Statin Use Among Very Elderly Without Heart Trouble Raises Doubts
A recent study has found that seniors with no history of heart trouble are now nearly four times more likely – from 9 percent to 34 percent – to get those drugs than they were in 1999. Here’s the catch: For patients of that age, there is little research showing statins’ preventive heart benefits outweigh possible risks, which can include muscle pain and the onset of diabetes. — Lisa Gillespie (Sep. 21)
USA Today
HHS To Change Rules For Opioid Treatment Drug
The federal government will change the rules for prescribing the addiction drug buprenorphine in an effort to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for people addicted to heroin and prescription painkillers, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Thursday. Burwell also announced $1.8 million in grants to 13 states for rural communities to pay for naloxone, a drug that reverses an opioid overdose, and training on how to administer it. — Donna Leinwand Leger (Sep. 19)
Related: The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, “Louisville seeks answers to rising suicide rate” (Bailey, Sep. 18)
Wall Street Journal
Medicare’s Proposed Changes on Prosthetics Stirs a Fight
Tom Watson has relied on a prosthetic limb since the 1970s, when a 10,000-pound bulldozer rolled over part of his right leg. After his amputation, he became so involved in prosthetics that he opened his own business fabricating and fitting such devices. Now Mr. Watson, whose advanced artificial limb has allowed him to remain active and coach college football for students with disabilities, has both a business and personal stake in proposed federal rules that would tighten Medicare requirements for prosthetics. — Stephanie Armour (Sep. 20)
The Washington Post
Opinion: Treatment, not jail, for mentally ill people
The county has a plan to establish a fledgling program, starting Jan. 1, to divert nonviolent people who have mental illness to a county-run crisis center in Merrifield. Rather than jailing them, police officers, trained to detect the signs of mental health crises, would be able to hand them off to a team of professional staff at the center for evaluation and formulation of a treatment plan. — Editorial Board (Sep. 20)
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