News in brief - Apr 25, 2011

Texas sees shortage of mental health professionals

An aging work force coupled with Texas' growing and increasingly diverse population are contributing to a shortage of mental health professionals in the state, said an April 11 policy brief from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

In fiscal 2010, about 488,520 Texas adults had serious, persistent mental illness, and 54,724 children had a severe emotional disturbance. But only 34% of those adults and 29% of children received community mental health care. In 2009, 171 of the state's 254 counties lacked a psychiatrist, and 102 counties lacked a psychologist, the paper said (www.hogg.utexas.edu/uploads/documents/Mental_Health_Crisis_final_032111.pdf).

"As Texans, we can and must address this growing crisis," said Octavio N. Martinez Jr., MD, MPH, executive director of the Hogg Foundation, which helps fund mental health services and research statewide. Limited training opportunities and poor pay also contribute to the problem.

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FDA revamps recall website

The Food and Drug Administration has redesigned its recall website to let physicians and others quickly see when a product was recalled, who makes the product and the reason for the agency's decision.

The site, which covers recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts, can be browsed by categories such as drugs, medical devices, biologics and food (www.fda.gov/safety/recalls). Users can sign up at the site to be alerted by email of any new FDA recall actions.

The change, announced April 4, was required under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act that President Obama signed into law in January. The law ordered the FDA to make its recall search engine more consumer-friendly within 90 days of enactment.

The information is listed in an easy-to-read tabular format. Before, each action was listed separately in a scroll-down format.

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