Court Finds CA Health Insurance Providers Must Cover Anorexia Treatment

The 9th U.S. District Circuit Court of Appeals in August determined that Blue Shield of California is required to cover a policyholder’s inpatient treatment of her severe diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. The court made the decision based on the fact that California insurance providers are obligated under the state’s mental health parity law to cover the treatment of mental illnesses the same as it would for physical illnesses.

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Mexico Legalizes Possessing Small Amounts of Drugs; Encourages Treatment

Mexico enacted a controversial law today that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for addiction free of charge.

The Associated Press reports that the law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution.

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Groups Oppose Pro-Marijuana Ads, Detailing Dangers of the Drug

While a pro-marijuana group is launching an ad to encourage California legislators to legalize and tax the drug as a means of revenue, opponents want to remind the public that people under 18 who have used the drug are more likely to move on to harder-hitting drugs, putting 51 percent of California’s young people at risk.

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Alcoholism: Its Ties to Domestic Violence and the Disruption of Families

By Catherine H. Knott, Ph.D.

Sue and Tom* were married less than a year before Tom’s alcoholism began to have a negative effect on their marriage. Tom was eight years older than Sue, a graduate student at a prestigious university; she was an at-home mom for their first child, but would shortly start graduate school herself. The drinking problem was insidious at first. Tom’s three or four beers every evening hardly seemed something to worry about. When he added a shot of whiskey every night, he excused it by saying he was under a lot of pressure from the difficult classes he was taking. But without making the link to the drinks at first, Sue became more and more upset by Tom’s unpredictable and often angry and out-of-control behavior.

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