Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine

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The Advocacy Initiative Network (the Network) is a statewide organization developed by, for and with customers of mental health services throughout Maine. Our mission is to support the creation and sustainability of programs & initiatives that provide a better quality of life for Maine consumers.

Our beliefs have influenced how we have determined what constitutes consumer involvement.

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Latest News

Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Oppose the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 bill
New Bill Seeks to Ban Consumer Access to Dietary Supplements Senator

John McCain has introduced a bill that if passed, will drive up the cost of dietary supplements and restrict your access to them. The bill being spearheaded by Senators John McCain and Byron Dorgan supposedly originates from the controversy surrounding the use of steroids by Major League Baseball players. Since some unethical companies illegally sold steroid drugs as “dietary supplements,” certain members of Senate appear to have been deceived into believing that the FDA needs to be given additional power to ban dietary supplements across the board.

In order to mislead the public about the true nature of this bill, it has been named the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 (DSSA). Despite nutritional supplements’ safety record, McCain’s bill would give the FDA authority to draw up a list of allowed and disallowed supplements (and supplement potencies). This bill would cause any dietary supplement to be classified as “adulterated” if it is “manufactured, packaged, held, distributed, labeled or licensed by a dietary supplement company not registered with the Secretary.” The “Secretary” in this case is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the department of the federal government that oversees the FDA.

The FDA already requires manufacturers to maintain records of serious adverse reaction reports. This bill would require that all “non-serious adverse events” be submitted to the federal government. The problem is that when a large group of people take any product, there are always coincidental “adverse reactions”. This means that for any given product, the FDA can arbitrarily take the list of adverse reports submitted to it and use it as a basis to remove the product, even if there was not a single valid adverse reaction! Pharmaceutical companies would be able, under the Freedom of Information Act, to gain access to these reports, and petition the FDA to remove the supplement from the market. If McCain’s bill is passed, it will make it far easier for pharmaceutical companies to file use patents on what are now inexpensive dietary supplements and convert them into outrageously priced “drugs.”

Please alert your two Senators and Representatives about this oppressive legislation that should not be co-sponsored and should instead be vigorously opposed.

http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=2fe2fa5d-636b-4705-97df-8318a24f718f

Draft of DSM-5

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to classify and diagnose mental disorders in children and adults. The DSM has historically had a very significant impact on the treatment of mental illness and on the payment of mental health treatment and related services. A committee created by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has been working on revising the DSM to reflect current scientific understanding about mental disorders. Earlier this week, the APA posted the draft of the revised DSM, known as the DSM-5. The draft DSM-5 can be found on-line.

Proving Citizenship for MaineCare

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Proving Citizenship for MaineCare has become a lot easier!

Starting January, 2010 people who have a Social Security Number and apply for MaineCare will have their citizenship and identity automatically verified. This way you no longer have to present a birth certificate or other proof when you apply. If you are not in the Social Security system, then you will have to prove your citizenship or identity or your legal immigrant status.

If you lost your MaineCare because you were unable to provide a birth certificate, you can now reapply just using your Social Security number.

Feel free to contact us if you questions about this change.

Crystal M. Bond

Paralegal/Organizer

Maine Equal Justice Partners

126 Sewall Street

Augusta, Maine 04330

Tel: 1-866-626-7059 x 205

Fax: 207-621-8148

www.mejp.org

President's 2011 Budget is a Mixed Bag for People with Disabilities

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

With health care reform stalled for the moment, the fiscal year 2011federal budget proposed by President Obama this week is the prime focus of advocates' and policymakers' attention. If its freezes, cuts and increases were enacted as submitted (never happens), children and adults with mental disabilities would win some and lose a little.

Under the $3.8 trillion plan, new funding would address growing unemployment, relieve economic pressures facing the middle class and reduce deficits. War funding would also increase.

A three-year freeze is proposed for non-security domestic discretionary spending. While the freeze would not impose across-the-board cuts to programs, many programs would be cut, eliminated, consolidated or level-funded. Others, however, would receive increases.

Some programs and services that assist children and adults with psychiatric disabilities face these budget challenges. However, in light of the nation's economic crisis and overall goal of deficit reduction, several important programs serving this population fare well under the plan, in a mixed bag of gains and losses.

In this issue:

President Obama Releases Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Blueprint
- Mental Health Services
- Medicaid
- Education
- Criminal and Juvenile Justice
- Housing
Newsbytes
- House Committee Approves Bill to Prevent Harmful Seclusion and Restraint of Students
- Justice Department Sues Georgia for ADA Violation
- Report Shows that Health Care Reform Would Help the Economy
- CHIP Anniversary Kicks off New Program for Kids
- Labor Department Hosts Sessions on Disability Employment
- TANF Funds to be Available for Mental Health Services

Read the full Bazelon Center Mental Health Policy Reporter...

Increase for Mental Health Programs

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Mental Health America Welcomes Increases for Mental Health Programs in President’s Budget

Will Work With Congress and Administration to Build Upon Request

Contact: Steve Vetzner, (703) 797-2588 or svetzner@mentalhealthamerica.net

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (February 3, 2010)—Mental Health America today commended the Obama Administration for proposing a Fiscal Year 2011 Budget that contains increases for most of the nation’s public health agencies, which highlights the need to invest in critical mental health supports and services beyond important steps that would be taken through health care reform.

The budget, which was released on Monday, prioritizes public health programs, including increases in funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), despite a difficult fiscal landscape.

Mental Health America looks forward to working with Congress and the Administration to build upon the proposed budget, which includes a $110 million increase (3.1 percent) for SAMHSA, a $1 billion increase (3 percent) for the National Institutes of Health and a $5.2 billion increase (8 percent increase) for mental health care services at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Administration’s proposed funding increases would expand the crucial services and supports, research, and prevention interventions for people living with, or at risk of, mental illness that are provided or supported not only through SAMHSA, but at other agencies such as NIH, the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The budget also recognizes the importance of consumer and family participation in one’s recovery (for example, the budget proposes a modest increase for Center for Mental Health Services’ Consumer and Family Network Grants), as well as the need for integration of behavioral health with primary care (for example, the budget proposes allocating $25 million towards the integration of behavioral services into primary care health systems at HRSA).

“The message the Administration is sending with this budget is clear and important,” said David Shern, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mental Health America. “Funding for health, including behavioral health, complements health care reform efforts and is vital for delivering prevention, early intervention, treatment services and research to communities throughout the nation.”