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MAJOR DOCUMENTS
SAVING LIVES, SAVING MONEY
With policy decisions being made regarding preferred drug lists, please read TSPPs publication, "Saving Lives, Saving Money: The Case for Open and Unrestricted Access to Mental Health Medications."
Click here.
INSANITY DEFENSE CONFERENCE
In February 2003, TSPP conducted a conference on the
Affirmative Defense of Insanity in Texas. Joining TSPP as hosts were the Texas
Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Texas District and County Attorneys
Association, the State Bar of Texas Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in
Criminal Matters and Committee on Disability Issues, and the American Journal of
Criminal Law. Read the transcript of this conference which had a faculty
composed of national experts on the insanity defense.
Click here.
PRESIDENT'S NEW FREEDOM COMMISSION ON MENTAL HEALTH
On July 22, 2003, the President’s Commission on Mental Health
released its report, “Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in
America,” commissioned by President George W. Bush by Executive Order 13263 on
April 29, 2002. The Executive Order charged the Commission to study the mental
health service delivery system, and to make recommendations that would enable
adults with serious mental illnesses and children with serious emotional
disturbance to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their own
communities. In announcing the Commission, President Bush said, “Americans must
understand and send this message: mental disability is not a scandal – it is an
illness. And like physical illness, it is treatable, especially when the
treatment comes early.” Click here.
SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT ON MENTAL HEALTH
On December 13, 1999, the US Surgeon General released the
first-ever Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health. The report, commissioned
by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala, documents that although
there is a range of effective, well-documented treatments for mental illnesses,
nearly half of all Americans who have a severe mental illness fail to seek
treatment. The report also focuses on the connection between mental health and
physical health, barriers to receiving mental health treatment, and the specific
mental health issues of children, adults and the elderly.
US Surgeon General David Satcher, MD said, “Over the last two decades a
revolution in science and service delivery has broadened our understanding of
mental health and illness, and improved the way in which mental health care is
provided. Safe and effective options are available to treat the mental disorders
that affect one in five Americans per year.”
To read, “Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General,”
Click here.
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FEDERATION OF
TEXAS PSYCHIATRY