Federal News & Issues


WHAT:

The American Psychiatric Association’s 2016 Annual Meeting features nationally recognized experts in psychiatry and mental health policy, research and clinical practice presenting in hundreds of sessions and new research posters. Special sessions will feature Atul Gawande, M.D., surgeon and best-selling author with a bold vision for changes and improvements in health care, and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Psychiatry: Claiming our Future.”

WHO:

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Author: mbourdase - Published: Jan 28, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. – Today the American Psychiatric Association issued the following statement from its president, Renée Binder, M.D., in reaction to President Obama’s announcement today on gun violence and mental health:

We welcome the announcement from President Obama to make needed investments in mental health and curb the epidemic of gun violence in our country. Gun violence is a public health problem and needs to be addressed as such. We support the president’s efforts to expand background checks, propose policies that respect physician-patient confidentiality, and increase funding for mental health services by $500 million. We will work with Congress to make that funding proposal a reality, as we also work with allies in Congress who are championing comprehensive...

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Author: mbourdase - Published: Jan 5, 2016

Arlington, Va. – The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has announced its list of the 10 most clinically important psychiatry research articles of 2015, and four of the 10 were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP). No other journal published more than one of the selected studies.

The complete list appears at the NEJM Journal Watch Psychiatry website.

Two of the AJP studies were about promising new treatments. Helen Lavretsky et al. found that combining the antidepressant citalopram with methylphenidate, a stimulant, enhanced the response of geriatric patients with depression. The article by...

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Author: mbourdase - Published: Jan 4, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. – The American Psychiatric Association (APA) released the following statement from APA President Renée Binder, M.D., on Senate passage Thursday night of S. 993, the “Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act,” introduced by Senators Al Franken (D-Minn) and John Cornyn (R-Texas):

“Jails and prisons have become the front lines of treatment for mental illness despite being ill-equipped to do so. In 44 states, the largest facilities housing people with severe psychiatric illness are prisons or jails,” Binder said. “This bipartisan legislation will help improve mental health services in the criminal justice system and reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails and prisons.”

The legislation extends the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act , including support for...

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Author: mbourdase - Published: Dec 17, 2015

ARLINGTON, Va. — Late last night, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015, by an 18-12 vote. The Act, introduced by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), will now move on to the full Committee for consideration. The bill has 161 other co-sponsors from both parties. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has joined with many leading mental health organizations to urge Congress to pass bipartisan legislation reforming the mental health system. APA has endorsed both HR 2646 and similar legislation introduced in the Senate.

APA President Renée Binder, M.D., issued a statement today in response to last night’s subcommittee vote:

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Author: mbourdase - Published: Nov 5, 2015

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To advance the quality and effectiveness of psychiatric care through advocacy, professional education and camaraderie.

 

 

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