Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Inpatient Psychiatric Civil Commitment.

Objective: Involuntary psychiatric treatment may parallel ethnoracial inequities present in the larger society. Prior studies have focused on restraint and seclusion, but less attention has been paid to the civil commitment system because of its diversity across jurisdictions. Using a generalizable framework, this study investigated inequities in psychiatric commitment.

Trajectories of initiation for the heroin-based drug whoonga - qualitative evidence from South Africa.

Background: Whoonga is a smoked heroin-based street drug that first emerged in South Africa a decade ago. While previous scientific reports suggest that use is growing and youth are particularly vulnerable, trajectories of initiation are not well characterized.

Methods: In 2015, 30 men undergoing residential addiction treatment for this smoked heroin drug in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences using the drug.

Benzodiazepine Use Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Neurocognitive Impairment in People Living With HIV.

Objective: Despite potential for dependence and adverse neurological effects, long-term benzodiazepine (BZD) use is common among people living with HIV (PLWH). As PLWH are at risk for central nervous system dysfunction, we retrospectively examined the association between BZD use and HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI).

Methods: Three hundred six PLWH underwent comprehensive neurobehavioral evaluations.

A Cost-Effectiveness Model for Adjunctive Smoked Cannabis in the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain.

A recent meta-analysis affirmed the benefit of medicinal cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain, a disabling and difficult-to-treat condition. As medicinal cannabis use is becoming increasingly prevalent among Americans, an exploration of its economic feasibility is warranted. We present this cost-effectiveness analysis of adjunctive cannabis pharmacotherapy for chronic peripheral neuropathy.

Effects of a Surgical Receipt Program on the Supply Costs of Five General Surgery Procedures.

Background: Surgical supplies occupy a large portion of health care expenditures but is often under the surgeon's control. We sought to assess whether an automated, surgeon-directed, cost feedback system can decrease supply expenditures for five common general surgery procedures.

Materials And Methods: An automated "surgical receipt" detailing intraoperative supply costs was generated and emailed to surgeons after each case.