Sedatives Used for PTSD Treatment Despite Warnings

Military.com

Department of Veterans Affairs doctors are continuing to prescribe tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax to veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder -- despite VA guidelines advising against their use for the condition. Almost a third of veterans being treated for PTSD are prescribed benzodiazepines, a class of sedatives commonly used to treat insomnia, anxiety, seizures and other conditions, according Dr. Nancy Bernardy, a clinical psychologist with the VA’s National Center for PTSD.

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Modesto Bee

Patricia Pinckney of Modesto has stayed clean for almost 90 days. As a result, child welfare officials allowed her two children, Noah and Lila, to see her at the Redwood Family Center. After the four-hour visit, and hugs and kisses were exchanged, the children went home with foster parents. The kids will start living with their mother at Redwood if she stays clean.

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Mendocino County awash in alcohol

PressDemocrat.com

There's no obvious “ground zero” for alcohol sales or consumption in Ukiah, no skid row scene replete with liquor stores and run down bars. In fact, the landscape of this rural Mendocino County hub looks, for the most part, pretty dry. And yet each convenience store, restaurant, pub, wine bar, gas station and pharmacy has led to a unique situation here: Mendocino County is drowning in alcohol.

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How Obamacare Will Distort the Health-Care Market

Bloomberg (Opinion)

President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats sold many Americans on the Affordable Care Act largely by emphasizing two arguments: The law would help to reduce overall health-care costs, and it would provide health insurance to those who, for financial or health reasons, cannot get it now. Unfortunately, both of these arguments are flawed. The law creates market distortions that will significantly raise premiums and costs for many Americans -- including some middle- income families. And there are less costly, less distortionary and less intrusive ways to address the problem of the uninsured.

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Army veteran, a UCLA student, teaches class on combat and military life

UCLA Newsroom

UCLA senior Andrew Nicholls served eight years in the U.S. Army, including a year in Iraq. Now, he's sharing his firsthand perspectives about the military and combat in a UCLA psychology course he's teaching this quarter called "Fast Cars and Battle Scars: Understanding the Modern Combat Veteran and PTSD." "We'll discuss the entire process, from who chooses to serve in the military, what it's like to be trained to kill somebody and how that affects you, to things that happen in combat, as well as military culture and civilian life when you leave the military," said Nicholls, a 29-year-old psychology major who will graduate in June. "I thought undergraduates who never served in the military should have some idea what it's like … so that as future voters and perhaps policymakers, they can think about veterans' issues in a more nuanced way."

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California doctor to plead guilty to charges of illegally prescribing drugs at Starbucks

Associated Press

A Southern California doctor has agreed to plead guilty to charges of illegally prescribing drugs to his patients at nightly meetings in Starbucks stores. Court documents show 44-year-old Alvin Mingczech Yee entered into a plea agreement earlier this week. He is expected to plead guilty to seven counts at a April 17 hearing. Prosecutors say Yee saw up to a dozen patients nightly at Starbucks coffee stores across suburban Orange County at meetings that cost up to $600. Prosecutors say Yee barely examined them but prescribed drugs including OxyContin and Vicodin.

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Brown to Grant Pardons to Former Convicts, Former SB Narcotics Criminal

Daily Nexus (UCSB)

Gov. Jerry Brown announced plans to pardon 65 various individuals convicted of drug possession and other low-level crimes, including Richard Brent DeLeon, a drug dealer from Santa Barbara County. All of those granted clemency had finished their sentence and lived free from custody for at least 10 years. DeLeon served a four-year prison sentence and served at least eight months on probation in October 1991 for possession of a narcotic with the intent to sell.

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