MENTAL HEALTH

Minding men in uniform

Few Armed Forces personnel seek help for mental health disorders and novel approaches will be needed to encourage personnel at risk of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), anxiety and alcohol abuse to seek treatment, says a note from The Lancet . A trial testing a potential post-deployment screening programme for British Armed Forces personnel, based on a computerised assessment and tailored mental health advice, found it was not effective in reducing the symptoms of mental health disorders or encouraging personnel to seek help, compared to the general mental health advice which is the standard of care in the UK military. This type of screening was tested because it was deemed the most likely way that a UK screening programme could be introduced because there are too few mental health professionals and resources to carry out face-to-face appraisals.

Illegal medicines

Caught red-handed

An investigation by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has resulted in guilty pleas for supplying unlicensed, and potentially dangerous, medicinal products. Two men appeared before the Oxford Crown Court charged with offences under Trade Mark, Misuse of Drugs and medicines regulatory legislation. They pleaded guilty to all charges. Gediminas has been sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, among other things. Vytautas has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years. In July 2015, enforcement officers from the MHRA entered the men’s residence, and storage units hired in their names. The officers found almost 470,000 tablets of unlicensed erectile dysfunction medication, counterfeit medicines and Class C controlled drug Tramadol. The officers also found over £6,000 in cash and electronic records of medicines trading including customer details.

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