By Catherine Martin
The Columbia Daily Tribune
Originally posted on February 15, 2013
The University of Missouri is holding off on filling an administrative position that attracted a controversial candidate.
Larry James, who served as the director of behavioral science division at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, was one of two finalists being considered for the job of division executive director at the MU College of Education.
His past experiences, including allegations of involvement in torture, drew criticism from staff and sparked a protest on campus. An on-campus interview last week was open to the public, and questions from community members centered on James' alleged connections to torture.
The entire story is here.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
From Guantanamo to Mizzou?
By Colleen Flaherty
Inside HigherEd
Originally published February 12, 2013
Retired Col. Larry James, a former Army psychologist, went into both Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to address and correct known human rights violations – hence the name of his 2008 book, Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Abu Ghraib.
“This is very, very important conversation to have in a variety of venues, and it’s very important to understand what went wrong at these awful places,” said James – now dean of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University – of why he wrote the memoir. “If we keep things in secret we’re destined to repeat it again.”
But some of the revelations in Fixing Hell are being levied against him as he tries to secure an administrative post at at the University of Missouri at Columbia. An on-campus protest was held earlier this month as James’s name surfaced as one of two finalists for the position, division executive director in the College of Education. As such, he’d oversee 60 faculty and 29 staff members in three units, including the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology.
Aamer Trambu, a business graduate student and member of the Muslim Student Organization, attended the protest, along with members of the St. Louis Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith peace group. He also attended a Mizzou forum last week at which James answered questions for more than an hour. A petition against James’s candidacy with at least 60 names was turned over to university administrators. (The American-Islamic relations council chapter also launched an online petition. Leaders did not respond to requests for comment.)
The entire article is here.
Inside HigherEd
Originally published February 12, 2013
Retired Col. Larry James, a former Army psychologist, went into both Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to address and correct known human rights violations – hence the name of his 2008 book, Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Abu Ghraib.
“This is very, very important conversation to have in a variety of venues, and it’s very important to understand what went wrong at these awful places,” said James – now dean of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University – of why he wrote the memoir. “If we keep things in secret we’re destined to repeat it again.”
But some of the revelations in Fixing Hell are being levied against him as he tries to secure an administrative post at at the University of Missouri at Columbia. An on-campus protest was held earlier this month as James’s name surfaced as one of two finalists for the position, division executive director in the College of Education. As such, he’d oversee 60 faculty and 29 staff members in three units, including the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology.
Aamer Trambu, a business graduate student and member of the Muslim Student Organization, attended the protest, along with members of the St. Louis Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith peace group. He also attended a Mizzou forum last week at which James answered questions for more than an hour. A petition against James’s candidacy with at least 60 names was turned over to university administrators. (The American-Islamic relations council chapter also launched an online petition. Leaders did not respond to requests for comment.)
The entire article is here.
Friday, February 22, 2013
To Reduce Suicide Rates, New Focus Turns to Guns
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
The New York Times
Published: February 13, 2013
Craig Reichert found his son’s body on a winter morning, lying on the floor as if he were napping with his great-uncle’s pistol under his knee. The 911 dispatcher told him to administer CPR, but Mr. Reichert, who has had emergency training, told her it was too late. His son, Kameron, 17, was already cold to the touch.
Guns are like a grandmother’s diamonds in the Reichert family, heirlooms that carry memory and tradition. They are used on the occasional hunting trip, but most days they are stored, forgotten, under a bed. So when Kameron used one on himself, his parents were as shocked as they were heartbroken.
“I beat myself up quite a bit over not having a gun safe or something to put them in,” Mr. Reichert said. But he said even if he had had one, “There would have been two people in the house with the combination, him and me.”
The gun debate has focused on mass shootings and assault weapons since the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn., but far more Americans die by turning guns on themselves. Nearly 20,000 of the 30,000 deaths from guns in the United States in 2010 were suicides, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national suicide rate has climbed by 12 percent since 2003, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teenagers.
Guns are particularly lethal. Suicidal acts with guns are fatal in 85 percent of cases, while those with pills are fatal in just 2 percent of cases, according to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Published: February 13, 2013
Craig Reichert found his son’s body on a winter morning, lying on the floor as if he were napping with his great-uncle’s pistol under his knee. The 911 dispatcher told him to administer CPR, but Mr. Reichert, who has had emergency training, told her it was too late. His son, Kameron, 17, was already cold to the touch.
Guns are like a grandmother’s diamonds in the Reichert family, heirlooms that carry memory and tradition. They are used on the occasional hunting trip, but most days they are stored, forgotten, under a bed. So when Kameron used one on himself, his parents were as shocked as they were heartbroken.
“I beat myself up quite a bit over not having a gun safe or something to put them in,” Mr. Reichert said. But he said even if he had had one, “There would have been two people in the house with the combination, him and me.”
The gun debate has focused on mass shootings and assault weapons since the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn., but far more Americans die by turning guns on themselves. Nearly 20,000 of the 30,000 deaths from guns in the United States in 2010 were suicides, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national suicide rate has climbed by 12 percent since 2003, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teenagers.
Guns are particularly lethal. Suicidal acts with guns are fatal in 85 percent of cases, while those with pills are fatal in just 2 percent of cases, according to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
The entire story is here.
Panetta announces benefits for military same-sex partners
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA Today
Originally published February 11, 2013
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Monday that the Pentagon is extending benefits to same-sex partners of military servicemembers, including the right to visit their loved ones in military hospitals.
The announcement falls short of an extension of full benefits, many of them involving health care, because federal law prevents same-sex couples from receiving them. Among the other benefits to be extended: participation in family groups on military bases, issuing dependent identification cards and privileges in commissaries.
"It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country," Panetta said in a statement.
The entire story is here.
USA Today
Originally published February 11, 2013
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Monday that the Pentagon is extending benefits to same-sex partners of military servicemembers, including the right to visit their loved ones in military hospitals.
The announcement falls short of an extension of full benefits, many of them involving health care, because federal law prevents same-sex couples from receiving them. Among the other benefits to be extended: participation in family groups on military bases, issuing dependent identification cards and privileges in commissaries.
"It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country," Panetta said in a statement.
The entire story is here.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Vermont Senate approves amended death with dignity bill
By Dave Gram
The Associated Press
Originally published February 13, 2013
The Vermont Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to an amended bill allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients.
But even some backers of the measure, which passed 21-9, called the amended version a travesty. And other long-time backers of what they call ‘‘death with dignity’’ or ‘‘end-of-life choices,’’ along with opponents of physician-assisted suicide, were so angry about the amendment that they voted against it.
‘‘I will be voting yes for this bill, as much as I detest it,’’ said Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison and chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
She said she hoped much of the original language — which mirrored Oregon’s first-in-the-nation Death With Dignity Act — would be restored when the measure moves to the House.
‘‘I want to be on that conference committee,’’ Ayer said, referring to the six-member panel of lawmakers who work out the differences between the House and Senate bills after they have cleared both chambers.
The entire story is here.
The Associated Press
Originally published February 13, 2013
The Vermont Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to an amended bill allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients.
But even some backers of the measure, which passed 21-9, called the amended version a travesty. And other long-time backers of what they call ‘‘death with dignity’’ or ‘‘end-of-life choices,’’ along with opponents of physician-assisted suicide, were so angry about the amendment that they voted against it.
‘‘I will be voting yes for this bill, as much as I detest it,’’ said Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison and chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
She said she hoped much of the original language — which mirrored Oregon’s first-in-the-nation Death With Dignity Act — would be restored when the measure moves to the House.
‘‘I want to be on that conference committee,’’ Ayer said, referring to the six-member panel of lawmakers who work out the differences between the House and Senate bills after they have cleared both chambers.
The entire story is here.
Assisted Suicide on Legal Agenda in Several States
By Susan Haigh
Associated Press
Originally posted February 8, 2013
A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in a half-dozen states where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe mentally competent, dying individuals with the medications needed to end their own lives.
The large number of baby boomers facing end-of-life issues themselves is seen to have made the issue more prominent in recent years. Groups such as Compassion & Choices, a national end-of-life advocacy organization, have been working to advance the cause.
Advocates received a boost from last year's ballot question in Massachusetts on whether to allow physicians to help the terminally ill die. Although the vote failed, it helped to spark a national discussion, said Mickey MacIntyre, chief program officer for Compassion & Choices.
"The Massachusetts initiative lifted the consciousness of the nation and in particular the Northeast region to this issue that there are other alternatives patients and their families should have an opportunity to access," MacIntyre said.
Bills legalizing assisted suicide are being considered in Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Kansas and Hawaii — and in Massachusetts, where proponents decided to resume their efforts after the public vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislative trends. There are also bills related to the issue under consideration in New Hampshire, New York, Arizona and Montana.
In Connecticut, which has banned the practice since 1969, a group of lawmakers said Tuesday that the legislature's first public hearing on the subject would probably be held this month. At least two bills on the issue have so far been proposed in this year's session of the Connecticut legislature.
The entire story is here.
Associated Press
Originally posted February 8, 2013
A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in a half-dozen states where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe mentally competent, dying individuals with the medications needed to end their own lives.
The large number of baby boomers facing end-of-life issues themselves is seen to have made the issue more prominent in recent years. Groups such as Compassion & Choices, a national end-of-life advocacy organization, have been working to advance the cause.
Advocates received a boost from last year's ballot question in Massachusetts on whether to allow physicians to help the terminally ill die. Although the vote failed, it helped to spark a national discussion, said Mickey MacIntyre, chief program officer for Compassion & Choices.
"The Massachusetts initiative lifted the consciousness of the nation and in particular the Northeast region to this issue that there are other alternatives patients and their families should have an opportunity to access," MacIntyre said.
Bills legalizing assisted suicide are being considered in Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Kansas and Hawaii — and in Massachusetts, where proponents decided to resume their efforts after the public vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislative trends. There are also bills related to the issue under consideration in New Hampshire, New York, Arizona and Montana.
In Connecticut, which has banned the practice since 1969, a group of lawmakers said Tuesday that the legislature's first public hearing on the subject would probably be held this month. At least two bills on the issue have so far been proposed in this year's session of the Connecticut legislature.
The entire story is here.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The Op-Ed: Antidepressants & Controversial Studies
By Ed Silverman
Pharmalot.com
Originally published February 11th, 2013
Several years ago, the Black Box warnings that were added to antidepressants over suicidal thoughts and behaviors for youngsters caused a backlash, as some suggested the language had pushed physicians and parents to avoid usage when the medications could have done some good. The debate may have slipped from view, but never really ended. A pair of papers published last year, in fact, renewed the controversy, and Glen Spielmans, an associate professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University, recounts why the issue remains fraught with challenges and a recent spat that erupted when an effort was made to critique the papers.
Antidepressants can cause suicidality – suicidal thoughts and behaviors – in children and adolescents. This message has been widely disseminated since October 2004, when the FDA placed a Black Box warning on such medications. The warning was based on findings from placebo-controlled trials, in which kids taking antidepressants had an elevated rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (see this). But research led by Dr. Robert Gibbons, professor of biostatistics at the University of Chicago, suggests that this warning is counterproductive, scaring parents and kids away from getting safe and effective antidepressant treatment.
Gibbons was the main author on two papers published in 2012 in psychiatry’s premier journal, Archives of General Psychiatry (which was changed to JAMA Psychiatry last month). One paper examined the potential association between antidepressants and suicidality and the other focused on the efficacy of antidepressants.
The entire op-ed is here.
Pharmalot.com
Originally published February 11th, 2013
Several years ago, the Black Box warnings that were added to antidepressants over suicidal thoughts and behaviors for youngsters caused a backlash, as some suggested the language had pushed physicians and parents to avoid usage when the medications could have done some good. The debate may have slipped from view, but never really ended. A pair of papers published last year, in fact, renewed the controversy, and Glen Spielmans, an associate professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University, recounts why the issue remains fraught with challenges and a recent spat that erupted when an effort was made to critique the papers.
Antidepressants can cause suicidality – suicidal thoughts and behaviors – in children and adolescents. This message has been widely disseminated since October 2004, when the FDA placed a Black Box warning on such medications. The warning was based on findings from placebo-controlled trials, in which kids taking antidepressants had an elevated rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (see this). But research led by Dr. Robert Gibbons, professor of biostatistics at the University of Chicago, suggests that this warning is counterproductive, scaring parents and kids away from getting safe and effective antidepressant treatment.
Gibbons was the main author on two papers published in 2012 in psychiatry’s premier journal, Archives of General Psychiatry (which was changed to JAMA Psychiatry last month). One paper examined the potential association between antidepressants and suicidality and the other focused on the efficacy of antidepressants.
The entire op-ed is here.
Pfizer disputes claim against antidepressant
By Linda Johnson
Associated Press
Originally published January 31, 2013
The maker of Zoloft is being sued in an unusual case alleging the popular antidepressant has no more benefit than a dummy pill and that patients who took it should be reimbursed for their costs.
Zoloft's maker, Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker by revenue, disputes the claim, telling the Associated Press Thursday that clinical studies and the experience of millions of patients and their doctors over two decades prove Zoloft is effective.
The lawsuit was described as frivolous by Pfizer and four psychiatry experts interviewed by the AP.
Not so, according to plaintiff Laura A. Plumlee, who says Zoloft didn't help her during three years of treatment. Her attorney, R. Brent Wisner of the Los Angeles firm Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman, argues the Food and Drug Administration shouldn't have approved Zoloft because Pfizer didn't publish some clinical studies that found the drug about as effective as a placebo.
(cut)
Kirsch, associate director of Harvard Medical School's Program in Placebo Studies, has published a book and several medical journal articles on the effect. With colleagues, he reviewed numerous studies of popular antidepressants, including unpublished studies obtained using the Freedom of Information Act.
"The difference between drug and placebo is very small," below the level that benefits patients, Kirsch concluded.
He said Pfizer produced two studies showing Zoloft worked better than placebo — the FDA's requirement for approval — but most Zoloft studies showed its effect was the same as a placebo.
Dr. Michael Thase, who heads the mood and anxiety disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, said research by others using the same unpublished studies concluded antidepressants have "a modest effect over placebo," on average about 15 percentage points.
That's partly because the rate of study participants improving when they're taking a placebo has been rising, said New York University's Sussman.
The entire story is here.
Associated Press
Originally published January 31, 2013
The maker of Zoloft is being sued in an unusual case alleging the popular antidepressant has no more benefit than a dummy pill and that patients who took it should be reimbursed for their costs.
Zoloft's maker, Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker by revenue, disputes the claim, telling the Associated Press Thursday that clinical studies and the experience of millions of patients and their doctors over two decades prove Zoloft is effective.
The lawsuit was described as frivolous by Pfizer and four psychiatry experts interviewed by the AP.
Not so, according to plaintiff Laura A. Plumlee, who says Zoloft didn't help her during three years of treatment. Her attorney, R. Brent Wisner of the Los Angeles firm Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman, argues the Food and Drug Administration shouldn't have approved Zoloft because Pfizer didn't publish some clinical studies that found the drug about as effective as a placebo.
(cut)
Kirsch, associate director of Harvard Medical School's Program in Placebo Studies, has published a book and several medical journal articles on the effect. With colleagues, he reviewed numerous studies of popular antidepressants, including unpublished studies obtained using the Freedom of Information Act.
"The difference between drug and placebo is very small," below the level that benefits patients, Kirsch concluded.
He said Pfizer produced two studies showing Zoloft worked better than placebo — the FDA's requirement for approval — but most Zoloft studies showed its effect was the same as a placebo.
Dr. Michael Thase, who heads the mood and anxiety disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, said research by others using the same unpublished studies concluded antidepressants have "a modest effect over placebo," on average about 15 percentage points.
That's partly because the rate of study participants improving when they're taking a placebo has been rising, said New York University's Sussman.
The entire story is here.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
SGR Repeal Bill Favors Primary Care
MedScape Medical News
Two members of Congress today reintroduced an ambitious bill that would repeal Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for setting physician pay and gradually phase out fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursement.
One major difference this time around for the bipartisan bill, originally introduced in May 2012, is that its price tag appears considerably lower, making passage more likely.
When Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Joe Heck, DO (R-NV), proposed this legislation last year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated that repealing the SGR and merely freezing current Medicare rates for 10 years would cost roughly $320 billion.
Since then, the CBO has reduced that 10-year estimate on the basis of lower than projected Medicare spending on physician services for the past 3 years. In a budget forecast released yesterday, the agency put the cost of a 10-year rate freeze at $138 billion.
The immediate effect of the bill from Schwartz and Dr. Heck, titled the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act, would be to avert a Medicare pay cut of roughly 25% on January 1, 2014, that is mandated by the SGR formula. Instead, the bill maintains 2013 rates through the end of 2014.
After 2014, Medicare would begin to shift from FFS to a methodology that rewards physicians for the quality and efficiency of patient care. From 2015 through 2018, the rates for primary care, preventive, and care coordination services would increase annually by 2.5% for physicians for whom 60% of Medicare allowables fall into these categories. Medicare rates for all other physician services would rise annually by 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the bill calls on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to step up its efforts to test and evaluate new models of delivering and paying for healthcare (experiments with medical homes, accountable care organizations, and bundled payments are already underway). By October 2017, CMS must give physicians its best menu of new models to choose from. Two menu options would allow some physicians unable to fully revolutionize to participate in a modified FFS scheme.
The entire article is here.
Two members of Congress today reintroduced an ambitious bill that would repeal Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for setting physician pay and gradually phase out fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursement.
One major difference this time around for the bipartisan bill, originally introduced in May 2012, is that its price tag appears considerably lower, making passage more likely.
When Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Joe Heck, DO (R-NV), proposed this legislation last year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated that repealing the SGR and merely freezing current Medicare rates for 10 years would cost roughly $320 billion.
Since then, the CBO has reduced that 10-year estimate on the basis of lower than projected Medicare spending on physician services for the past 3 years. In a budget forecast released yesterday, the agency put the cost of a 10-year rate freeze at $138 billion.
The immediate effect of the bill from Schwartz and Dr. Heck, titled the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act, would be to avert a Medicare pay cut of roughly 25% on January 1, 2014, that is mandated by the SGR formula. Instead, the bill maintains 2013 rates through the end of 2014.
After 2014, Medicare would begin to shift from FFS to a methodology that rewards physicians for the quality and efficiency of patient care. From 2015 through 2018, the rates for primary care, preventive, and care coordination services would increase annually by 2.5% for physicians for whom 60% of Medicare allowables fall into these categories. Medicare rates for all other physician services would rise annually by 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the bill calls on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to step up its efforts to test and evaluate new models of delivering and paying for healthcare (experiments with medical homes, accountable care organizations, and bundled payments are already underway). By October 2017, CMS must give physicians its best menu of new models to choose from. Two menu options would allow some physicians unable to fully revolutionize to participate in a modified FFS scheme.
The entire article is here.
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