Millions Of Dollars Budgeted For Suicide Outreach To Veterans Goes Unspent Even As Rates Continue To Rise

The New York Times: Suicide Among Veterans Is Rising. But Millions For Outreach Went Unspent By V.A.
Suicide prevention efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs fell off sharply in the last two years, even though reducing the high suicide rate among veterans is the agency’s top clinical priority, according to a new report. With the department’s top management in turmoil, the suicide prevention effort lacked leadership, planning meetings were repeatedly canceled, millions of dollars budgeted for outreach went unspent, and the television and radio ads that had been broadcast thousands of times across the country in previous years went all but silent. (Philipps, 12/18)

In other national health care news —

The New York Times: Trump Administration Report On School Safety Plays Down Role Of Guns
Unveiling a report commissioned by President Trump in the aftermath of a mass shooting last winter at a Florida high school, administration officials on Tuesday played down the role of guns in school violence while focusing instead on rescinding Obama-era disciplinary policies, improving mental health services and training school personnel in the use of firearms. The report — by the Federal Commission on School Safety, which consists of four cabinet officials and is led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos — drew on months of research marked by political conflict and mixed messaging from the administration on how to handle violent events like the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen students and staff members were killed and 17 others were injured in the shooting. (Rogers and Green, 12/18)

The New York Times: Nearly 40,000 People Died From Guns In U.S. Last Year, Highest In 50 Years
More people died from firearm injuries in the United States last year than in any other year since at least 1968, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 39,773 gun deaths in 2017, up by more than 1,000 from the year before. Nearly two-thirds were suicides. It was the largest yearly total on record in the C.D.C.’s electronic database, which goes back 50 years, and reflects the sheer number of lives lost. (Mervosh, 12/18)

The New York Times: Thousands Of Migrant Children Could Be Released After Policy Change
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it planned to ease onerous security requirements for sponsors of migrant children, meaning that thousands who have been parked in shelters for months could soon be released and reunited with family members. In a major policy reversal, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the care of migrant children through its Office of Refugee Resettlement, said that it would no longer require that all members of a household where a child is to live be fingerprinted. Instead, fingerprints will be required only of the adult who is sponsoring the minor, typically a parent or another relative. (Jordan, 12/18)

Politico: Anti-Abortion Groups Demand Ouster Of NIH Chief Over Fetal Tissue
Two influential anti-abortion groups called Tuesday for the ouster of NIH Director Francis Collins over his support for fetal tissue research for medical science. Live Action, March for Life and other conservative groups have been frustrated that the Trump administration has not banned research using fetal tissue donated by women who have had abortions. (Ollstein, 12/18)

Reuters: Judge Mulls Using Monitor To Oversee CVS During Court Process
A federal judge said on Tuesday that he was considering using a court-appointed monitor to make sure CVS Health Corp refrains from fully integrating with insurer Aetna while he examines the companies' settlement with the government. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held the hearing as part of his review of the antitrust settlement reached with the Justice Department to win approval for the companies' $69 billion merger. (12/18)

Reuters: U.S. Surgeon General Wants Tougher Action To Tackle Teen Vaping Epidemic
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday issued a rare advisory calling for aggressive steps against e-cigarette use among teens, which he said has become an "epidemic". The detailed advisory listed various strategies that states, communities, health professionals and parents can apply to restrict the use of e-cigarettes. (12/18)

The New York Times: Addicted To Vaped Nicotine, Teenagers Have No Clear Path To Quitting
A Harvard addiction medicine specialist is getting calls from distraught parents around the country. A Stanford psychologist is getting calls from rattled school officials around the world. A federal agency has ordered a public hearing on the issue. Alarmed by the addictive nature of nicotine in e-cigarettes and its impact on the developing brain, public health experts are struggling to address a surging new problem: how to help teenagers quit vaping. (Hoffman, 12/18)

The Washington Post: Congressional Report: Drug Companies, DEA, Failed To Stop Flow Of Millions Of Opioid Pills
The distributors of powerful prescription opioids and the Drug Enforcement Administration failed to stop the flow of millions of pills into rural West Virginia despite rampant warning signs that the pills were being diverted for abuse, inertia that contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic, a congressional report has found. A report from the majority staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that distributors, which fulfill orders for prescription drugs to pharmacies, failed to conduct proper oversight of their customers by not questioning suspicious activity and not properly monitoring the quantity of painkillers that were being shipped to individual pharmacies. (Zezima, 12/19)