Clinical Psychiatry News articles from December 2003

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from December 2003

Psychiatric disorders often co-occur: substance abuse not in a vacuum.(News)
December 1, 2003... BOSTON -- Dual diagnosis is an expectation, not an exception. That's the underlying philosophy that every mental health delivery system needs to adopt in order to appropriately serve patients with co-occurring psychiatric and substance...

Severely mentally ill not served: mental health system needs 'radical change'; Federal officials urged to set outcome measures, give states more flexibility.(News)
December 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Federal officials should tie mental health funding to outcomes and should give states more flexibility in implementing programs, experts said at a briefing on severe mental illness sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute....

Suicidality reports prompt advisory: FDA sets stage for debate on antidepressants, kids; Expert panels to discuss data next year.(News)
December 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration's public health advisory about the reports of suicidality among pediatric patients treated with antidepressant drugs for major depressive disorder is a result of a preliminary review of such reports in patients...

Treating bullies.(Fink! Still at Large)
December 1, 2003... The case involving the 12-year-old Connecticut boy who hanged himself after being picked on at school raises questions about what has been called "bullycide." A jury convicted the boy's mother of putting the child at risk by neglecting him at...

PASS the diagnosis, please.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Since the DSM-IV-Text Revision does not describe a psychotic syndrome or disturbance that is attributable to the direct physiologic effects of a combination of substances and one or more general medical conditions that meet the criteria of a...

Wine out, hypertension in.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... I read the recent article on atypical alcohol withdrawal reactions in the elderly and can report on one patient who had such a reaction on two separate occasions ("Alcohol Withdrawal Worse for Older Patients." October 2003, p. 50). The...

A momentous visit.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... The closing remark of Dr. Christopher J. Keats' guest editorial--"company all by itself can be very momentous"--brought back a memory of an important moment in my training ("Reflections on Chestnut Lodge," August 2003, p. 13). I was in...

Simplifying the payment system.(Guest Editorial)
December 1, 2003... The administrative complexity of the payment system is a lose-lose proposition for all participants. It's costly, duplicative, and needs to be simplified. Multiple credentialing, multiple clinical guidelines, multiple billing processes,...

Embryos and ethics.(Guest Editorial)
December 1, 2003... As scientists, we would like to have the right to conduct research in a world where there are no limits placed on the pursuit of human knowledge. There is little doubt that research into therapeutic human cloning and germ-line therapies would...

How do you film a delusion?(Reel Life)
December 1, 2003... Canadian director David Cronenberg's 2002 film, "Spider," tells the story of a man with chronic schizophrenia whose present dysfunction is linked to circumstances when he was a preteen. Dennis Cleg (Ralph Fiennes) was sent to a public mental...

Limiting resident work hours.(Guest Editorial)
December 1, 2003... I strongly believe in the limits on resident work hours set forth in the new guidelines from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which take effect this July, but I strongly oppose micromanagement of resident work hours....

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2003... In the November 2003 issue of CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY NEWS, a photograph on p. 1 referred to an article on p. 64, but the story highlighted was on p. 67.

Treating panic disorder.(Practical Psychopharmacology)
December 1, 2003... In the pharmacotherapy of panic disorder, practice seems to have diverged somewhat from practice guidelines. The American Psychiatric Association's 1998 practice guideline endorses both antidepressants and benzodiazepines for treatment of...

Letting data guide patient care.(Evidence-Based Psychiatric Medicine)
December 1, 2003... Evidence-based medicine uses research to provide patients with care that is based on the best evidence currently available. The emphasis is on moving beyond clinical experience and physiologic principles to "rigorous evaluations of the...

Eight 1-hour sessions: group music therapy shown to improve antipsychotic compliance.(Adult Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... BOSTON -- Group music therapy may help improve medication compliance among psychotic patients, Dr. Ruby C. Castilla said at the American Psychiatric Association's Institute on Psychiatric Services. Previous studies have demonstrated a...

Human serotonin transporter: rare mutation tied to OCD, other disorders.(Adult Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... A rare mutation in the human serotonin transporter gene has been associated with an unusual clustering of obsessive-compulsive disorder and other psychiatric illnesses in two unrelated families, Dr. Norio Ozaki and associates reported. The...

Schizophrenia Tx in elderly.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... More than half of elderly patients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder show clinical improvement during treatment with olanzapine or risperidone, reported Dr. Dilip V. Jeste of the University of California, San Diego, and...

High costs of schizophrenia.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Adults older than 65 years with schizophrenia have higher annual Medicare and Medicaid per capita expenditures than patients who have depression, dementia, or medical disorders alone, reported Dr. Stephen J. Bartels and his colleagues at...

Generalized anxiety treatment.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Tiagabine may be an effective treatment for patients with generalized anxiety disorder, said Dr. Murray Rosenthal of BMR HealthQuest, San Diego. Twenty patients took open-label tiagabine (Gabatril), a selective [gamma]-aminobutyric acid...

Escitalopram for panic disorder.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Patients treated with escitalopram have significantly fewer panic attacks and symptoms of anxiety than patients treated with placebo, reported Dr. Stephen M. Stahl of the Neuroscience Education Institute, Carlsbad, Calif., and his associates....

Etiology of somatic symptoms.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Nearly half of all somatic symptoms in patients who present in a primary care setting are idiopathic or psychiatric in etiology, said Dr. Adnan A. Khan and his colleagues at Indiana University, Indianapolis. In a retrospective study, a...

The art of Charles Benefiel.(Visionary Art)
December 1, 2003... Charles Benefiel's drawings have a dark, haunting, and disturbing quality to them. His art is made all the more arresting when it becomes apparent that all of the drawings are made up of thousands of dots. Using a stipple technique and...

Early brain changes: MRI can presage schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- Adolescents who later go on to develop schizophrenia or bipolar disorder show distinct abnormalities in brain organization that are detectable using MRI years before frank symptoms manifest, Vaibhav A. Diwadkar, Ph.D., reported at a...

Applies to girls, boys: dieting results in bingeing, weight gain.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... Preadolescents and adolescents who dieted to control weight were much more likely to be binge eaters, and they gained significantly more weight than nondieters, according to the results of a large prospective study conducted by Alison E. Field,...

11-, 13-, 15-year-olds: U.S. youth are more fatigued than counterparts in Europe.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... Young people in the United States are more likely to have stomachaches, backaches, headaches, difficulty sleeping, and to be tired in the morning than are their European counterparts. But U.S. teens were less likely to smoke or to feel safe at...

Don't work for young patients: eating disorder criteria in DSM draw criticism.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... DENVER -- Diagnosis of eating disorders in children using current criteria can be likened to trying to fit square pegs into round holes, Rachel Bryant-Waugh, Ph.D., said at an international conference of the Academy for Eating Disorders. ...

MDD in teens and suicide.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Teens exposed to a friend's suicide are most likely to suffer from a new onset of major depressive disorder within the first month after the event, said Jeffrey A. Bridge, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh and his colleagues. Teens...

Importance of sleep problems.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Preadolescents with sleep problems at age 8 years were at increased risk for psychiatric problems 4 years later, said Dr. E. Juulia Paavonen and colleagues at the University of Helsinki, Finland (J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr. 24[5]:307-14, 2003). ...

Watch out for comorbidities.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Mood disorders were diagnosed in 5 of 12 girls and 57 of 92 boys aged 5-11 years who were originally referred for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, said Dr. Steven C. Dilsaver of the Rio Grande City Texas Community Mental Health Mental...

Melatonin helps kids sleep.(Clinical Capsules)
December 1, 2003... Daily treatment with oral melatonin (5 mg/day) for 4 weeks significantly improved sleep and health status in children with idiopathic chronic sleep-onset insomnia, said Dr. Marcel G. Smits of the Hospital Gelderse Vallei, Ede, the Netherlands,...

Help access hidden memories: poor autobiographical recall flags suicide risk.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... ROME -- Adolescents who can't recall specific autobiographical memories appear to be at a greater risk for suicidal behavior, and therapy aimed at improving this type of recall might help improve treatment outcomes for these youths. Those...

Azithromycin or penicillin: prophylaxis may lessen symptoms for OCD + strep.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... BETHESDA, MD. -- Antibiotic prophylaxis appears to reduce the number of neuropsychiatric symptom exacerbations that are associated with streptococcal infections in a subgroup of children with obsessive-compulsive or tic disorders, Dr. Susan...

Deficiency is widespread: [B.sub.12] supplements, fortified foods okay for elderly.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE -- In a departure from its longstanding position that nutrients should come from food rather than pills, the National Academy of Sciences is urging older people to meet their recommended dietary allowance of vitamin [B.sub.12]...

Undermines patients' independence: apathy may be a common characteristic of dementia.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO -- Recent findings suggest that apathy is an early and prevalent manifestation of dementia, Dr. Chiadi Onyike said at the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Apathy, characterized as a lack of motivation or...

Pain, bipolar, depression: some illnesses flag risk of suicide in elderly.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... HONOLULU -- Certain illnesses are associated with an increased risk of suicide in elderly patients, Dr. Nathan Herrmann reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Severe pain, bipolar, depression...

Watch for mood disorders: don't dismiss concerns of older patients.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Much about us declines as we age, but not all mental changes in the elderly should be chalked up to old age, Dr. Raymond M. Pomm said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "What we don't want to...

'Seeking Safety' program: focus on present in substance abusers with PTSD.(Addiction Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE -- Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder frequently have comorbid substance abuse disorders, and the combination responds well to a behaviorally oriented treatment that focuses on the present, not on the details of past...

Improved engagement needed: few injection drug users receive treatment for coexisting HCV.(Addiction Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO -- Despite expedited referrals for clinical evaluation and care, a minority of injection drug users with detectable hepatitis C virus infection underwent evaluation, and a very small proportion were treated, according to results from...

African Americans: mentholated cigarettes may be harder to quit for some.(Addiction Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... BALTIMORE -- Mentholated cigarettes appear to be harder for African Americans to quit than are nonmentholated cigarettes, Dr. Jasjit S. Ahluwalia reported at the annual conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in...

State restrictions pose roadblock: buprenorphine is underused as addiction detox treatment.(Addiction Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- The medical community's reception to the availability of an office-based treatment option for opioid addiction has been, in a word, underwhelming. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Center for...

Preliminary findings: uncontrolled ADHD associated with substance use in study.(Addiction Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... MIAMI -- People with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms that are uncontrolled with medication are at increased risk of tobacco use in the prior year and other drug use in the prior month, according to a survey of college...

How often do pregnant smokers light up?(Data Watch)
December 1, 2003... How Often Do Pregnant Smokers Light Up? Cigarettes per Day Distribution 1-5 31.3% 6-10 41.5% 11-15 5.8% 16-20 18.5% 21-30 2.1% 31-40 ...

Immediate intervention: 'postvention' imperative for suicide survivors.(Community Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... BALTIMORE -- For the loved ones of people who commit suicide, the traditional approach of waiting to seek psychological support "when they're ready" is just not good enough. Most will suffer years of guilt and depression if left to their own...

Older white women referred more often: age, race, gender affect insanity referrals.(Forensic Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Homicide defendants are more likely to be recommended for an insanity defense if they are white, female, and older, Dr. Craig Lemmen said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Dr. Lemmen,...

Dual substance abuse: retarded murder defendants are often female.(Forensic Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Mentally retarded inmates who are accused of committing murder are more likely to be female than male, Dr. R. Gregg Dwyer said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Approximately 1%-3% of...

Knives, guns, and fists: murder weapon varies by psychiatric diagnosis.(Forensic Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- The murder weapons that mentally ill defendants are alleged to have used vary greatly depending on the defendant's psychiatric diagnosis, Dr. Richard Frierson said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and...

No known victims: some pedophiles are more likely to be homosexual.(Forensic Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Pedophiles who do not have any known victims are more likely to be homosexual, Dr. J. Paul Fedoroff said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Eight percent of the referrals to his...

Help disordered pedophiles: consider prescribing SSRIs for treating patients with paraphilias.(Forensic Psychiatry)
December 1, 2003... NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may offer a valuable alternative to antihormonal agents in the treatment of paraphilias, Dr. Ahmed Abouesh said at the annual meeting of the Southern Psychiatric Association. In...

Simple screening tool: self-ratings help detect depression in MS patients.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
December 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- A simple questionnaire that asks patients with possible multiple sclerosis to rate their level of function on a scale of 1-10 can help screen for depression, Dr. Gary Birnbaum said. Scores on the "self-rating scale"...

Clinician, know thyself: countertransference impedes eating disorder Tx.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
December 1, 2003... NASHVILLE, TENN. -- The treatment of patients with eating disorders requires empathy, objectivity, and above all, self-knowledge on the part of the clinician, Dr. Harry A. Brandt said at the annual meeting of the Southern Psychiatric...

Implications for both diseases: brain-gut link may explain bipolar II and functional dyspepsia correlation.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
December 1, 2003... WAIKOLOA, HAWAII -- A small but intriguing Norwegian study has raised the possibility that bipolar II disorder patients may have an elevated prevalence of functional dyspepsia, with implications for research into potentially shared mechanisms...

Failing of primary care: some SAD patients not getting proper treatment.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Only 57% of primary care patients who have social anxiety disorder receive treatment, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Overall, 20% of patients with social...

Silent crisis: new specialty emerging for torture victims.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- A new medical specialty is emerging in response to an ages-old, yet largely silent crisis among humanity: torture. Torture medicine as a specialty is long overdue and greatly needed by those who have suffered the "cruel, inhuman...

Acropachy, dermopathy: smoking may be risk factor for severe Graves'.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO -- Patients with two of the most serious manifestations of Graves' disease--acropachy and dermopathy--are three times more likely to have a history of tobacco use and five times more likely to be current smokers than patients with...

PDE4 inhibitors: new drugs target different aspects of asthma.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... TORONTO -- A modern incarnation of an early asthma drug is making a comeback of sorts as part of a new wave of asthma treatments on the horizon. "The drug that is now attracting the most attention is theophylline revisited," said Dr. John...

Earlier menopause: for the young, breast Ca presents unique issues.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- Young breast cancer survivors have issues and needs that are unique to their age and not found in older women, presenters said at a meeting sponsored by Living Beyond Breast Cancer and the Young Survival Coalition. The...

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: surgical treatment may reduce mortality from sleep apnea.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is an underused and understudied treatment for sleep apnea that may reduce mortality more effectively than simply providing continuous positive airway pressure, Dr. Edward Weaver said at the annual...

Respiratory compromise: smoking, albuterol use may be a risk factor for avascular necrosis in patients who are infected with HIV.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Smoking may be a risk factor for development of avascular necrosis in HIV-infected patients, Dr. Christina Seed said at the annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. A second factor linked to...

Poor sleep quality: functional disorders tied to fatigue.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Reports of fatigue and poor sleep quality are more prominent in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders than in those with organic GI disorders, according to a study presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week....

Testosterone replacement options: revised guidelines address diagnosing and treating hypogonadism in men.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... Updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism in men reflect advances in treatment and more robust data about the short-term benefits of testosterone replacement therapy. The guidelines, issued by the American...

Decreasing testosterone notwithstanding: exercise improves libido in menopausal women.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- If your menopausal patients have low libido, tell them to take a hike, literally. Results of a small, 5-year study of sexual satisfaction in naturally menopausal women suggest that exercise can fight decreasing sex drive....

Function may improve; Hysterectomy, sexual desire: no net change.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2003... LA JOLLA, CALIF. -- Sexual function does not diminish and may even improve after hysterectomy, according to two new studies. In the first study, 70% of 70 women said they had no net change or an increased desire for sex at an average...

'We're not God': burnout prevention requires setting new priorities.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Physicians concerned about burning out need to think differently about their lives and careers, Dr. Richard Swenson said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Technologic progress is a major...

Consider Stark law: be careful when determining fair market value of office.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Physicians should tread carefully when trying to arrive at a fair market value for office space they're renting. Beth Schermer said at a forum sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association. That's because fair market...

Lower court ruling stands: some doctors hail court's decision not to take medical marijuana case.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... Dr. Marcus Conant is glad that he didn't get his day in court. On Oct. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had declined to take up the case of Conant v. Walters, in which Dr. Conant was the lead plaintiff. The case revolved around...

Expert opinion: native healing adds to Western medicine.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... KANSAS CITY, MO. -- When she confirmed that the lump in the young Navajo woman's breast was cancer, Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord recommended surgery. But she also suggested that the surgery could wait while the young woman consulted with a medicine...

Anthem and Wellpoint: merger could affect some physician contracts.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... Physicians who have contracts with Anthem's or WellPoint Health Networks' Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans should check their contracts carefully now that the two plans have decided to merge, according to Bill DeMarco, a Rockford, Ill., health...

National Committee for Quality Assurance: quality gaps in health care result in many deaths.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... Gaps in health care quality result in more than 57,000 deaths in the United States each year--most from uncontrolled conditions like hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, according to a report from the National Committee for Quality Assurance....

Primary care physicians: coordinating mental health care key to better outcomes.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Coordination of care between primary care physicians and mental health providers is documented in close to one-third of cases and results in better outcomes, Dr. Gail L. Daumit said at an international conference sponsored by the...

Drugs with pediatric exclusivity: panel urges additional adverse drug reporting.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- The Food and Drug Administration should require an additional year of pediatric adverse event reporting on three drugs that received pediatric exclusivity in 2002, the FDA's pediatric subcommittee of the Anti-Infective...

Trend mirrors general practice: psychiatry residents may miss TCAs, MAOIs.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... BOSTON -- Psychiatry residents appear to be overlooking older antidepressive treatments, Dr. Rachel Dew reported in a poster at the American Psychiatric Association's Institute on Psychiatric Services. A chart review of 112 depressed...

Paternalistic approach discouraged: physician-patient partnership key to compliance.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- A partnership with the patient can help improve compliance, Dawn Oetjen, Ph.D., said at the annual conference of the Medical Group Management Association. The paternalistic model where the patient follows the physician's...

Heterogeneous disorders a problem: psychiatric formularies not likely to save money.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... Creating a formulary for drugs used to treat mental illness is not likely to save money for health plans as readily as formularies for other types of drugs, according to an analysis by Haiden A. Huskamp, Ph.D., of the department of health...

Tutorial recommended: statistical concepts used in medical studies elude some psychiatrists.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... BOSTON -- If you are stumped by standard deviations, perplexed by P values, and confounded by chi-squares, you're not alone. Many psychiatrists lack sufficient understanding of key statistical concepts to enable the accurate interpretation...

Drug, alcohol abuse often combined.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE OFTEN COMBINED Nearly half of the 1.1 million people receiving treatment for drug or alcohol addiction nationwide were in treatment for both drug and alcohol abuse, according to the 2002 National Survey of Substance Abuse...

Fixing overburdened mental health systems.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... FIXING OVERBURDENED MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS One-third of 501 community leaders identified mental health treatment programs as one of the most overburdened community resources, according to a survey released in November by the Campaign for the...

Defending federal research.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... DEFENDING FEDERAL RESEARCH The American Psychiatric Association and other physician organizations are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend the integrity of the peer-review process that funds federal research grants,...

Inpatient payment system proposed.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... INPATIENT PAYMENT SYSTEM PROPOSED The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed a new prospective payment system for inpatient psychiatric facilities that treat Medicare beneficiaries. The new system would replace the existing...

More Americans uninsured.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... MORE AMERICANS UNINSURED Eighty-five million Americans had no health insurance at some point between 1996 and 1999, more than double the number of uninsured at any one point in any one year during this period, according to a Commonwealth...

Rising debt.(Policy & Practice)
December 1, 2003... RISING DEBT It's getting more expensive to earn that medical degree. The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that the average educational debt of graduates of the class of 2003--including premed borrowing--was $109,457, an increase...

Ask the right questions: evaluate new practice opportunities carefully.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Physicians looking to join a new practice can save themselves a lot of trouble by asking the right questions, Connie Henderson-Damon said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Take call...

Violence in psychiatric units: systematic approach needed to protect staff.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2003... BOSTON -- The findings of a survey about violent incidents at the University of Rochester's psychiatric service units have highlighted the need for a systematic approach to the problem to protect staff members, Dr. Michael R. Privitera said in...