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State highlights: Calif. Governor's budget to include $670M in new Medi-Cal spending; Mass. launches new electronic health records updates

When he unveils his new budget plan Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown will propose billions of dollars in new spending on schools, health care, social services and environmental programs as California reaps the benefits of an economic turnaround. … The proposed budget includes $670 million more for Medi-Cal, the state's public health care program, which is expanding as part of President Obama's federal overhaul. The program is expected to serve a quarter of California's residents next year.

10 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 10, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about Maryland's plan to reduce hospital spending.

10 Jan 2014

Aetna is helping to reverse abuse of prescription painkillers

Abuse of prescription painkillers, known as opioids, is a widespread and growing problem in the United States. The epidemic adds billions of dollars to health care, work place and criminal justice costs each year.

10 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization of Roman Catholic nuns that runs nursing homes around the country, is testing the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Last week, we're sorry to say, the nuns won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Under the law, most employers are required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control. But the Obama administration agreed to a compromise for nonprofit religious groups that object to contraception, exempting them from paying for such coverage. Instead, insurers agreed to absorb the cost. All the religious organization has to do is fill out a simple form attesting to its situation. Unfortunately, even that was too much for the Little Sisters of the Poor (1/7).

9 Jan 2014

Marriage does not lower poverty rates among poor, single mothers

As the United States marks the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty this month, a new report suggests one recent weapon in the battle has been a disappointing failure.

7 Jan 2014

New ways to treat substance abuse, neurological diseases and mental illnesses

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have found a way to change alcohol drinking behavior in rodents, using the emerging technique of optogenetics, which uses light to stimulate neurons.

7 Jan 2014

People with severe mental illness may have higher risk for substance use

People with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and protective factors usually associated with lower rates of substance use do not exist in severe mental illness, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Jan 2014

Rates of smoking, drinking and drug use are higher among people with psychotic disorders

In the largest ever assessment of substance use among people with severe psychiatric illness, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Southern California have found that rates of smoking, drinking and drug use are significantly higher among those who have psychotic disorders than among those in the general population.

2 Jan 2014

Secondary conditions can become deadly and affect how long HIV patients stay in hospital

A University of Arkansas researcher and her colleagues have found that secondary conditions and diseases that could become deadly significantly affect how long HIV patients stay in the hospital.

17 Dec 2013

Cinnamon, nutmeg, marshmallows provide more than taste of holiday spice

Cinnamon, nutmeg and marshmallows provide more than a taste of holiday spice or a sugar rush. They are the ingredients for recipes for trendy risky games played by many to disasterous consequences.

13 Dec 2013

State highlights: Kaiser Permanente says some patient data; Wis. Dems strategize about Medicaid expansion; Va. mental health money

Health care giant Kaiser Permanente has notified about 49,000 patients of a privacy breach at its Anaheim Medical Center. Kaiser said a computer flash drive was reported missing Sept. 25 inside the hospital's nuclear medicine department. The storage drive included patient names, date of birth, their medical record number and the type and amount of a specific medication (Terhune, 12/10).

12 Dec 2013

U.S. Marines investigate association between traumatic brain injury and risk of PTSD

In a novel study of U.S. Marines investigating the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over time, a team of scientists led by researchers from the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that TBIs suffered during active-duty deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan were the greatest predictor for subsequent PTSD, but found pre-deployment PTSD symptoms and high combat intensity were also significant factors.

12 Dec 2013

Cenpatico, UAHN partner to deliver whole health integrated care model in Arizona

The State of Arizona has made a critical change to how it provides services to its most vulnerable populations. This approach favors a whole health integrated care model where one organization is responsible for providing both physical and behavioral health care services. To meet this best practice model, Cenpatico of Arizona and The University of Arizona Health Network have partnered to bring the behavioral and physical health systems together.

10 Dec 2013

WHO's MiNDbank database goes online

MiNDbank, a new WHO database goes online today, presenting a wealth of information about mental health, substance abuse, disability, human rights and the different policies, strategies, laws and service standards being implemented in different countries. It also contains key international documents and information.

10 Dec 2013

Research roundup: 'Substantial' Medicare savings from avoiding ERs; new ways for primary care; trends in kids' fast food consumption

Some Medicare beneficiaries who place 911 calls to request an ambulance might safely be cared for in settings other than the emergency department at lower cost. Using 2005–09 Medicare claims data and a validated algorithm, we estimated that 12.9–16.2 percent of Medicare-covered 911 emergency medical services transports involved conditions that were probably nonemergent or primary care treatable.

9 Dec 2013

Nurses bring fresh perspective to caring for troubled teens, Saint Louis U researcher finds

Psychiatric nurses offer a missing and critical point of view in treating adolescents in foster care who have mental health issues, an instructor at Saint Louis University School of Nursing found.

9 Dec 2013

Inflexible thinking in ADHD blamed on bipolar disorder

Impaired cognitive flexibility in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be entirely due to the presence of comorbid bipolar disorder, say researchers.

6 Dec 2013

Research highlights value of fathers in both neurobiology and behavior of offspring

Even with today's technology, it still takes both a male and a female to make a baby. But is it important for both parents to raise that child? Many studies have outlined the value of a mother, but few have clearly defined the importance of a father, until now.

5 Dec 2013

Frequent emergency department users have multiple chronic conditions, many hospitalizations

While it has often been said that the most frequent users of overburdened hospital emergency departments are mentally ill substance abusers, a study out today (Dec. 3) by researchers from NYU Wagner and the University of California, San Francisco, has found that this belief is unfounded - an "urban legend."

4 Dec 2013

Study reveals effect of energy drinks on the function of the heart

Healthy adults who consumed energy drinks high in caffeine and taurine had significantly increased heart contraction rates one hour later, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

2 Dec 2013

Substance Abuse News and Research

State highlights: Calif. Governor's budget to include $670M in new Medi-Cal spending; Mass. launches new electronic health records updates

First Edition: January 10, 2014

Aetna is helping to reverse abuse of prescription painkillers

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

Marriage does not lower poverty rates among poor, single mothers

New ways to treat substance abuse, neurological diseases and mental illnesses

People with severe mental illness may have higher risk for substance use

Rates of smoking, drinking and drug use are higher among people with psychotic disorders

Secondary conditions can become deadly and affect how long HIV patients stay in hospital

Cinnamon, nutmeg, marshmallows provide more than taste of holiday spice

State highlights: Kaiser Permanente says some patient data; Wis. Dems strategize about Medicaid expansion; Va. mental health money

U.S. Marines investigate association between traumatic brain injury and risk of PTSD

Cenpatico, UAHN partner to deliver whole health integrated care model in Arizona

WHO's MiNDbank database goes online

Research roundup: 'Substantial' Medicare savings from avoiding ERs; new ways for primary care; trends in kids' fast food consumption

Nurses bring fresh perspective to caring for troubled teens, Saint Louis U researcher finds

Inflexible thinking in ADHD blamed on bipolar disorder

Research highlights value of fathers in both neurobiology and behavior of offspring

Frequent emergency department users have multiple chronic conditions, many hospitalizations

Study reveals effect of energy drinks on the function of the heart

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