ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. SHOOTING BY POLICE SPARKS DEBATE
2. SEVEN WORKERS AT ANCORA TO BE PUNISHED FOR DEATH
3. PRESCRIPTION FOR TROUBLE
4. CONTRACTORS BACK FROM IRAQ SUFFER TRAUMA
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SHOOTING BY POLICE SPARKS DEBATE ON NONLETHAL WEAPONS
When Maplewood police shot a knife-wielding schizophrenic
outside his home late last month, the incident raised questions
about whether officers answering a medical call could have
found other ways to subdue the man short of using deadly
force. The New Jersey Association of Police Chiefs and mental
health advocates have been pressing for the use of less-lethal
weapons here for years, noting that they would give police
more ways to deal with mentally unbalanced people.
Read the Star Ledger report:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1184042219207070.xml&coll=1
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SEVEN WORKERS AT ANCORA TO BE PUNISHED FOR DEATH
State Human Services officials plan to fire four employees
and suspend three others from Ancora Psychiatric Hospital
who failed to supervise a patient in the hours be fore his
death, a spokeswoman confirmed yesterday. A total of seven
employees -- two nurses and five direct care workers --
ignored a doctor's order dictating the patient receive one-
on-one, round-the-clock supervision after he was admitted
the night of June 11.
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1183442020140490.xml&coll=1
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PRESCRIPTION FOR TROUBLE
Patients who fail to fill prescriptions or don't bother
to refill them are the dirty little secret of the global
health-care system. In truth, there's nothing little about
the problem. The impact on public health adds up to as much
as $100 billion a year in the United States, due to more
rapid onset of disease, higher rates of hospitalization
and lost productivity, according to several studies. Roughly
half of all patients with chronic conditions, including
high blood pressure and asthma, fail to stick to treatments
their doctors prescribe.
See the full story:
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/118386894094430.xml&coll=1
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CONTRACTORS BACK FROM IRAQ SUFFER TRAUMA FROM BATTLE
Contractors who have worked in Iraq are returning home with
the same kinds of combat-related mental health problems
that afflict United States military personnel, according
to contractors, industry officials and mental health experts.
But, they say, the private workers are largely left on their
own to find care, and their problems often go ignored or
are inadequately treated. With no widespread screening,
many workers are not identified as suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorder or other problems, mental health experts
say. They mostly must fend for themselves in navigating
the civilian health care system when they come back to the
United States.
Read
the New York Times report (free to register)
