VA Launches Mission To Lower Veteran Suicides

Wyoming Public Radio: A New VA Initiative Aims To Reduce Veteran Suicide And Seeks To Build Ties In Wyoming 
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced the launch of Mission Daybreak, an initiative aimed at reducing veteran suicide. The 10-year, $20 million program is seeking to accomplish this objective through a comprehensive, public health approach that integrates researchers, clinicians, health innovators, veterans, and service members. “To end Veteran suicide, we need to use every tool available,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “In the most recent National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report more than 45,000 American adults died by suicide — including 6,261 Veterans. That’s why Mission Daybreak is fostering solutions across a broad spectrum of focus areas to combat this preventable problem.” (Cook, 6/7)

In other news about mental health —

The Boston Globe: ‘The Numbers Just Continue To Rise’: Patients Awaiting Psychiatric Treatment Crowd Emergency Rooms
On Monday, nearly all of South Shore Hospital’s pediatric emergency beds were occupied by children who were suicidal. The 10 patients, some of whom had been there 12 days or more, were waiting for a place that could take them and care for their mental health needs. Another 18 adults were in the emergency department with behavioral health issues, also waiting for beds at South Shore or another facility. One person had been there 17 days. Hospital officials throughout the state say they are seeing unprecedented volumes of behavioral health patients who are sicker than ever before, a leading contributor to emergency room crowding, which officials say has worsened in recent weeks. (Bartlett, 6/7)

KHN: Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor But Find Health Plans Standing In The Way
When a longtime patient visited Dr. William Sawyer’s office after recovering from covid, the conversation quickly turned from the coronavirus to anxiety and ADHD. Sawyer — who has run a family medicine practice in the Cincinnati area for more than three decades — said he spent 30 minutes asking questions about the patient’s exercise and sleep habits, counseling him on breathing exercises, and writing a prescription for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication. (Pattani, 6/8)

NBC News: Family Sues Meta, Blames Instagram For Daughter’s Eating Disorder And Self-Harm
A preteen girl’s “addictive” use of Instagram resulted in an eating disorder, self-harm and thoughts of suicide over several years, according to a lawsuit against the platform’s parent company, Meta. The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California late Monday, heavily cites the Facebook Papers, a trove of internal Meta research documents leaked last fall that revealed that the tech giant knew Instagram was worsening body-image and other mental-health issues among teenage girls in particular. (Cook, 6/7)

In other public health news —

CBS News: Jif Peanut Butter Recalls Now Include Ice Cream, Candy And Chicken Salad
Add peanut butter cup ice cream to a growing list of recalled food made with Jif peanut butter that is linked to an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened 16 people in the U.S. Americans are being cautioned against eating a range of baked goods, sandwiches, candy, trail mix and ready-to-eat salad products made with the recalled Jif peanut butter, as snacks are pulled from stores, vending machines and restaurants nationwide amid a multi-state outbreak of salmonella. (Gibson, 6/7)

Stateline: One Region Led A 13-State Pandemic Baby Boomlet
New England has seen an unusual uptick in births during the coronavirus pandemic as more highly educated residents, especially those in their 30s, seized working from home as an opportunity to start a family. All six New England states were among the 13 states where births increased between 2019 and 2021. New Hampshire and Tennessee were the only states with more births last year than in 2014, the last time births rose nationally. The New England baby boomlet is notable in a region with the lowest birth rates in the nation—and it contrasts with a long-term national decline in births. (Henderson, 6/7)

Pioneer Press: 11-Month-Old Max Do Leaves The NICU For The First Time
It was a day Dan Do thought he might never get the chance to see. On Monday, Do’s son Max donned a spiffy white and navy blue outfit, with a bow tie and graduation cap. Max was ready to walk out of the hospital doors and into a new chapter of his life. Dozens of doctors and nurses lined up in the hallway of Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge blowing bubbles and performing a song for Max, who was celebrating several firsts. He began taking his first steps, and days before his first birthday would be seeing the outside world for the first time, after spending his entire 11-month life in the neonatal intensive care unit due to a rare condition that prevents him from absorbing the proper amount of nutrients from food. (Turner, 6/7)

AP: Rays' Hess Returns From Cancer Treatment, Pitches In Minors
Tampa Bay minor league pitcher David Hess threw one inning for the rookie-level FCL Rays on Tuesday, his first game since undergoing treatment for a cancerous tumor in his chest. Hess announced last October after experiencing chest tightness and shortness of breath that a cancerous germ cell tumor was found sitting in the center of his chest, pressing against his heart and lungs. (6/7)