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| News
and Information on Mental Health (click on underlined link for full story) |
|
2001
News...
 | The Social Security Administration
(SSA) published final
regulations for the new "Ticket" program authorized by Congress under
the 1999 Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. |
| White
House progress report on the implementation of the Olmstead Act:
signed in June 2001 to promote community-based alternatives for people
with severe disabilities, including children and adults with severe
mental illnesses. |
| Psychiatric
News Jan 4, 2001 |
| Mentally
Ill are more likely to be victims of violent crime. |
| New
supplements may reduce symptoms for bipolar disorder. |
| MEDI-CAL
focus group reports on Services in Santa Cruz County. |
|
NAMI
Santa Cruz County and Santa Cruz County Mental Health worked closely
with the Santa Cruz Police Department to sponsor the first 25 Santa Cruz
Police Officers to receive CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training in
Santa Cruz County. |
| Santa
Cruz NAMI has written a letter of support for the proposed SAMHSA
Community Action Grant to support creation of a housing center next to
the MHCAN community drop-in center. |
| Alternative
Mental Health News Issue #18 is online now. |
| The story
behind the residential care facilities in Santa Cruz County. |
|
A recent study showed that four out of five patients suffering from panic
disorder remained symptom-free six months after they stopped taking medication
to treat the often-debilitating illness. |
| New book
releases: Madness: A Brief History by Roy Porter, and
Madness in America by Robert Whitaker. |
| SAMHSA
study:Nine out of 10 kids who need drug treatment are not getting
it, a comprehensive federal study of the nation's
drug use has found. |
| Supreme
Court Narrows Reach of Disability Law when they ruled that to qualify as
disabled, and therefore to be protected by the
Americans With Disabilities Act, a person must have substantial limitations on
abilities that are "central to daily life,'' and not only to life in the
workplace. |
| Medi-Cal
requires counties to provide community services to children
diagnosed with mental illness. |
| HHS
issues preliminary report on the Olmstead Disability Community
Integration Plan. |
| The
Supreme Court will consider this spring if cities
should be shielded from some
lawsuits by the disabled, another case that could narrow a federal
disability law. |
| The
National Governors Association (NGA) is asking for a $5.5 billion relief
package to prevent cutbacks in Medicaid, the troubled program that
provides health care to the poor. |
| White
House progress report on the implementation of the Olmstead Act:
signed in June 2001 to promote community-based alternatives for people
with severe disabilities, including children and adults with severe
mental illnesses. |
| Editors
of major medical journals accuse the drug giants of using their
money - or the threat of its removal - to tie up academic researchers
with legal contracts so that they are unable to report freely and fairly
on the results of drug trials. |
| If
you know you are right, never give up... Inmate
wins freedom after 62,000 tries. |
| A
lawsuit filed August 24, 2001, contends that 35 people suffered
withdrawal symptoms after taking the popular anti-depressant Paxil
and the manufacturer concealed evidence that it can be addictive. See
the official press release and comments from the Coalition
for Drug Awareness. Safe
Harbor consulted by law firm filing Paxil lawsuit. |
| The
National Council on Disability (NCD) urges the President's Commission
to Strengthen Social Security to exercise caution in consideration of
Social Security proposals and consider the needs of Americans with
disabilities. |
| Children
return to classrooms this fall amid an increasingly
pitched battle over Ritalin and other drugs used to
treat millions with behavioral and emotional problems in
school. |
| Today
parents have to be educated consumers, but kids should be off-limits
as targets of convenience for the drug industry. |
| The
Bush administration yesterday postponed new protections for poor and
disabled Americans in managed care for up to a year. |
| The
Outsider - Book by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer on his
father's struggle with schizophrenia is now out. |
| In November 2001, Enterprise Austin will host
the Best Practices Conference Series, highlighting proven methods of
policy change and service delivery for people with disabilities - NAMI
Texas. |
| Several unnatural deaths at Napa State Hospital in recent years raise serious
questions about the quality of care at the hospital. |
| The Senate confirmed Joanne M. Wilson as the new US
Rehabilitation Services Administration Commissioner on July 19, 2001. |
| Safe
Harbor will establish the Annual Margot Kidder Award
to honor courageous men and women who have advanced the
use of safe, sensible, and effective alternative mental
health treatments. |
| Health
and Human Services releases a report finding Medicare
system lacking. |
| Gift From Within is releasing a new
video: Recovering
From Traumatic Events: The Healing Process. They
are a nonprofit organization dedicated to those who suffer
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those at risk for
PTSD, and those who care for traumatized individuals. |
| SSA
Ticket to Work program helps disabled find employment
opportunities. |
| There
is a high stakes marketing war brewing among makers of
new atypical antipsychotics: Zyprexa, Geodon, aripiprazole
(Abilitat) and iloperidone (Zomaril). |
| Solving
the Depression Puzzle - new book highlights how
nutrition can influence depression. |
| The
top 50 best-selling prescription drugs were responsible for 44 percent
($58.2 billion) of all retail drug spending in 2000 says a report by NIHCM. |
|
| Over
78,000 new Section 8 Fair Share Vouchers were awarded
last month, and approximately 12,600 of the vouchers have
been set-aside specifically for people with disabilities. |
| Aripiprazole,
a new antipsychotic drug made by Bristol-Meyers Squibb,
is now being tested in Toronto's Centre for
Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH). |
| Editors
at the world's most prominent medical journals,
alarmed that drug companies are exercising too much
control over research results, have agreed to adopt a
uniform policy that reserves the right to refuse to
publish drug company-sponsored studies unless the
researchers involved are guaranteed scientific
independence. - Washington Post. |
| Congress is now moving forward on the FY 2001 budget for the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including housing and homeless programs
serving adults with severe mental illnesses. |
| President
Bush saluted the marking this past week of the 11th
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
signed into law by his father, and called on Congress to
fund his proposals to expand even further the
opportunities available to people with disabilities. |
| Support
Coalition International held a human rights rally in
Vancouver, Canada, on July 22, 2001, in protest of the
opening of The World Assembly for Mental Health (WAMH) as
well as other Mad Pride Month events. Click here
to read the protest letter by David Oaks. |
| Federal
investigators have been sending out signals since 1998
that they want universities to pay more attention to their
clinical trial oversight. |
| New
drug reduces agitation with less side effects in
patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who become extremely
agitated. |
| Gaps
in treatment leave mentally ill kids stuck - Five
percent to 10 percent of all American children have
serious mental health disorders, federal officials say.
About 60 percent to 70 percent with mental health
disorders do not get the treatment they need, said Gary De
Carolis, chief of the child, adolescent and family branch
of the federal Center for Mental Health Services. But a
surgeon general's report released in January offered an
even higher estimate: 80 percent. (from the New York Times
- July 8, 2001). |
| In
Britain, manufacturers of Prozac and other antidepressants
have been asked to include stronger warnings in their
packaging because of fears that the drugs could trigger
violent behavior. The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM)
has also asked to see unpublished data from early trials
that tested their safety in healthy volunteers, after
claims that some individuals became violently depressed
while taking them. - Sunday-Times July 8,
2001. |
| Factually
based account of how a pharmaceutical company
unethically intervened in the publication of a scientific
article reporting clinical results inimical to that
company's interests - 3 essays originally distributed on
the Internet in latter half of 1995. |
| NAMI
urged Ohio Governor to spare the life of Jay D.
Scott, a man with a long history of severe mental illness. |
| The
Manchester Guardian has been running quite a few articles
on psychiatric drugs, including many pieces which are
negative. It's worthwhile taking a look through their
online archive. Apparently in Britain there's greater
leeway for meaningful public debate on psychiatry than
there is in the US. |
| Click
here
to go to UK based Ananova's Mental Health News web page. |
| A
patent was approved on May 8, 2001, for new methods of
treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia,
Alzheimer's Disease, autism, depression, benign
forgetfulness, childhood learning disorders, close head
injury, and attention deficit disorder. Click here
for full patent. |
| New
treatment might reverse memory loss in those with
schizophrenia, parkinson's, and other disorders. A
short-term drug regimen offers long-lasting reversal of
working memory loss in monkeys given antipsychotic
medications, researchers reported in the March 17
journal, Science. |
| BBC News Panorama broadcast
a special show on the mis-prescription of tranquilizers and the negative effects of these drugs which disable millions of people world wide. Click
here
to go to the web site. (May 13, 2001) |
| Metro
Center Threatens Pioneer House - The Santa Cruz City
Council is considering a site in Harvey West that will
displace the day treatment services for mental health
clients provided by the Pioneer House. Email
comments to: Metrobase@scmtd.com |
| White
House Releases details of FY2002 Budget, $131 Million
increases proposed for NIMH, freeze proposed for mental
health block grant and path programs. (April 9, 2001) |
| FDA Approves Geodon - On February 5,
2001, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ziprasidone, a new antipsychotic medication for the treatment of schizophrenia. Ziprasidone will be available in pharmacies in March under the brand name Geodon.
(Feb., 2001) |
| Grants
- Over $500,000 in grants have been received by County Mental Health
Services. (Feb., 2001) |
| Grand
Opening of Exposition in Los Angeles to protest continuing
psychiatric abuse of children with prescriptions.
The exhibit includes a 10 feet high pill bottle representing the more than 6.2 billion psychiatric pills foisted off on 6 million children
nationwide. |
| On
May 6, 2001, PBS had a special program called
"Treating the Mentally Ill". Click
here for program transcript. (May 4, 2001) |
| Schizophrenia
Clinical Trials
-
The Schizophrenia Clinic at Stanford Hospital is conducting several clinical
trials on new medications for the treatment of schizophrenia starting
January, 2001. These “atypicals” have fewer side effects than
traditional medications. (Jan., 2001)
|
| Compeer
Office Burns in Fire - The Grace Methodist church was lost to a fire
on October 7, 2000, and along
with it went the Interfaith Compeer office.
(Oct., 2000) |
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