Author: Rylee Wilson

Ten people were charged in an alleged scheme to transport patients from unlicensed sober living and transitional homes to a fake behavioral health facility in exchange for payments. 

Areas with higher rates of illicit opioid abuse also saw higher rates of suicides among children, pointing to a link between the two crises, a study published in Demography found. 

Many children face long wait times for behavioral health appointments, a California state audit found. 

Hawaii is the state with the lowest prevalence of depression in the U.S., while Tennessee is the highest, according to the United Health Foundation's America's Health Rankings. 

Optum added over 45,000 therapists, psychiatrists and behavioral health providers to its network, Optum Health CEO Amar Desai, MD, said. 

Smoking rates declined by over 10 percentage points from 2011 to 2022 among adults aged 18 to 24, but declined more slowly among older adults, a study published Dec. 1 in JAMA Health Forum found. 

Around four in 10 addiction medicine fellowships are unfilled in 2023, according to a National Resident Matching Program report published Nov. 29. 

Medicare payment policies taking effect in 2024 will make around 250,000 more behavioral health providers available to older adults, according to an analysis from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 

Over 40 nurses at Seattle Children's Hospital are urging the hospital to do more to prevent violence in the psychiatry and behavioral medicine unit. 

The number of suicide deaths reached the highest recorded rate in 2022, according to provisional CDC data published Nov. 28.