By Sarah C.P. Williams
The number of emergency room visits due to mental health problems of children and young adults is on the rise, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from 279 million visits kids made to emergency rooms around the country spanning 1999 through 2007. Over the eight-year period, the percentage of those visits attributable to psychiatric complaints rose from 2.4 percent to 3 percent.  » More

By Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel
Losing your home, or worrying about losing it, is enough to make you sick, says a recent study that offers insight into the toll the foreclosure crisis is taking on homeowners' health.
"Our findings prove yet again that economic well-being and physical well-being are connected," said economist Janet Currie, co-author of the study, published recently by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

"The foreclosure crisis is having a significant impact on mental health as well as on a wide range of preventable conditions that are susceptible to stress," she said.  » More

Philadelphia (July 22, 2011)—A new study by researchers at Drexel University’s School of Public Health suggests that abuse of prescription painkillers may be an important gateway to the use of injected drugs such as heroin, among people with a history of using both types of drugs. The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, explores factors surrounding young injection drug users’ initiation into the misuse of opioid drugs. Common factors identified in this group included a family history of drug misuse and receiving prescriptions for opioid drugs in the past. The results support a need for efforts to prevent misuse of prescription drugs, particularly during adolescence. » More

By Charles Ashby
Two margaritas at lunch with a couple of friends turned into a yearlong nightmare for one Grand Junction woman. As a result of her first and only conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol, the 53-year-old woman, whom we’ll call Patricia, found herself picking up trash along the highway with other jail inmates, making blankets as part of her community service, taking numerous alcohol-education and therapy classes, and paying lots and lots of fines, fees and other costs. » More

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press
In this Dec. 1, 2010 photo, Dale Kasprzyk, acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Buffalo stands next to a compilation chart of suspects in a recent prescription drug ring arrest raid in Buffalo, N.Y.
BUFFALO — Ethel Johnson couldn’t get her prescription for pain medication filled fast enough. The 60-year-old Buffalo woman was hurting — but investigators say that wasn’t the reason for the rush. According to secretly recorded telephone conversations, the sooner Johnson could pick up her pills, the more quickly she could sell them to her dealer. Her pain pills were destined for the street. » More

By Kerry Burke and Lukas I. Alpert, 
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Heavy-drinking hospital visits vary greatly by neighborhood, the survey found - with wealthy areas seeing the highest number of drunken emergency room trips. Heavy boozing has caused a shocking spike in drunken injuries and emergency room visits in New York, a troubling new study says. Nearly 74,000 people wound up in hospitals in 2009 for alcohol-related reasons, compared with just 22,000 in 2003 - a jump of nearly 250%, said the city Health Department study, which was released yesterday. » More