Katie O'Connor
@koconnorreports.bsky.social
Mental health reporter; Senior Writer with Psychiatric News, focusing on mental health advocacy; Previously with Virginia Mercury, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Signal: kdoconnor.17
Signal: kdoconnor.17
“Here we have a report issued from the... highest level of the federal government with regard to health and it’s casting psychotropic medications for children...as a leading cause of chronic disease... When I read that, it struck me as profoundly wrong.”
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
MAHA Reports Cast Doubt on Safety of Psychiatric Medications for Youth | Psychiatric News
PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.
psychiatryonline.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:23 PM
“Here we have a report issued from the... highest level of the federal government with regard to health and it’s casting psychotropic medications for children...as a leading cause of chronic disease... When I read that, it struck me as profoundly wrong.”
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
"It's definitely like a catastrophic situation for public health nutrition,” said Leah's Pantry founder and executive director Adrienne Markworth.
www.reuters.com/world/us/sta...
www.reuters.com/world/us/sta...
States to end nutrition education programs after Trump cuts
On a warm September day in the courtyard of a San Francisco senior living community, a dozen residents shake their hips and throw their hands in the air to the beat of, fittingly, Earth, Wind & Fire's "September."
www.reuters.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:19 PM
"It's definitely like a catastrophic situation for public health nutrition,” said Leah's Pantry founder and executive director Adrienne Markworth.
www.reuters.com/world/us/sta...
www.reuters.com/world/us/sta...
"For the first time, the CMS has provided a notice that directs hospitals to transport Medicare patients in the hospital at home program back to a brick-and-mortar facility or discharge them if the program authority runs out."
www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/t...
www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/t...
Hospitals, doctors face virtual care cliff with telehealth, hospital at home services on the line
Medicare beneficiaries stand to lose access to two key virtual care programs that the federal government has offered since the start of the pandemic if the government shuts down Tuesday a | Medicare v...
www.fiercehealthcare.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:11 PM
"For the first time, the CMS has provided a notice that directs hospitals to transport Medicare patients in the hospital at home program back to a brick-and-mortar facility or discharge them if the program authority runs out."
www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/t...
www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/t...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
The @nwlc.org warns that pronatalist policies like baby bonuses and motherhood medals are designed to control women’s bodies rather than genuinely support families.
Trump's Pronatalist Agenda Weaponizes Motherhood to Push Women Out of Public Life
the Trump administration's pronatalist agenda weaponizes motherhood to push women out of public life and into domestic roles.
msmagazine.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The @nwlc.org warns that pronatalist policies like baby bonuses and motherhood medals are designed to control women’s bodies rather than genuinely support families.
"Bounds, who lives in Oak Hill now, is one of thousands in the state who need oxygen and nebulizer treatments just to get through the day. The CDC estimates that about one in five miners in Appalachia is impacted by the disease."
wchstv.com/news/local/a...
wchstv.com/news/local/a...
As black lung cases continue to climb, silica rule delay leaves miners vulnerable
It is one of the most significant occupational diseases, and black lung has made a resurgence in recent years, even with the decline of the coal industry. In a
wchstv.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM
"Bounds, who lives in Oak Hill now, is one of thousands in the state who need oxygen and nebulizer treatments just to get through the day. The CDC estimates that about one in five miners in Appalachia is impacted by the disease."
wchstv.com/news/local/a...
wchstv.com/news/local/a...
Federal Report on Drinking Is Withdrawn
The upcoming U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be influenced by a competing study, favored by industry, which found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...
The upcoming U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be influenced by a competing study, favored by industry, which found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...
Federal Report on Drinking Is Withdrawn
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Federal Report on Drinking Is Withdrawn
The upcoming U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be influenced by a competing study, favored by industry, which found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...
The upcoming U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be influenced by a competing study, favored by industry, which found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
NO PAYWALL:
We have copies of the MAHA report.
Farm groups are pleased, but key parts of the MAHA coalition are not happy with the report’s soft touch on pesticides.
“There are way too many industry influences on things,” one MAHA supporter told me.
@politico.com
We have copies of the MAHA report.
Farm groups are pleased, but key parts of the MAHA coalition are not happy with the report’s soft touch on pesticides.
“There are way too many industry influences on things,” one MAHA supporter told me.
@politico.com
Kennedy might not get his way on pesticides, draft MAHA strategy shows
The White House has worked to temper Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda after weeks of backlash from industry groups.
www.politico.com
August 15, 2025 at 5:21 PM
NO PAYWALL:
We have copies of the MAHA report.
Farm groups are pleased, but key parts of the MAHA coalition are not happy with the report’s soft touch on pesticides.
“There are way too many industry influences on things,” one MAHA supporter told me.
@politico.com
We have copies of the MAHA report.
Farm groups are pleased, but key parts of the MAHA coalition are not happy with the report’s soft touch on pesticides.
“There are way too many industry influences on things,” one MAHA supporter told me.
@politico.com
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
AHRQ, the federal agency once prized by health care researchers, has been "decimated" @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social
reports. With ~ 90% of its workers gone following Trump admin cuts and early retirements, AHRQ can't distribute grants or perform other key functions
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/f...
reports. With ~ 90% of its workers gone following Trump admin cuts and early retirements, AHRQ can't distribute grants or perform other key functions
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/f...
Staff cuts are undermining federal research on how to make health care better
AHRQ has been gutted by staff cuts that leave it unable to fund research designed to improve care.
www.statnews.com
August 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM
AHRQ, the federal agency once prized by health care researchers, has been "decimated" @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social
reports. With ~ 90% of its workers gone following Trump admin cuts and early retirements, AHRQ can't distribute grants or perform other key functions
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/f...
reports. With ~ 90% of its workers gone following Trump admin cuts and early retirements, AHRQ can't distribute grants or perform other key functions
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/f...
"The fear that I see in patients’ eyes is not theoretical; it is lived. It is the resurgence of long-buried wounds, the echoes of past bullying and rejection now amplified by a government that seeks to erase their very existence."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The Moral Injury of Denying Gender-Affirming Care
This essay describes the author’s response to legislation on gender-affirming care.
jamanetwork.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
"The fear that I see in patients’ eyes is not theoretical; it is lived. It is the resurgence of long-buried wounds, the echoes of past bullying and rejection now amplified by a government that seeks to erase their very existence."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
NEWS: Trump and his GOP allies are pursuing policies that would intentionally cause millions of Americans to become uninsured. There's no precedent.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
In a First, Trump and GOP-Led Congress Prepare To Swell Ranks of U.S. Uninsured - KFF Health News
Fewer Americans will likely have health insurance, compromising their physical and financial health, as the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress weigh major changes to the Affordable Care ...
kffhealthnews.org
June 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
NEWS: Trump and his GOP allies are pursuing policies that would intentionally cause millions of Americans to become uninsured. There's no precedent.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"Former foster youth who describe the humiliation of using garbage bags during such moves have spent months calling attention to the problem, through advocacy campaigns and public demonstrations."
New York is only the 4th state to end the use of trash bags.
New York is only the 4th state to end the use of trash bags.
New York lawmakers have passed a bill that would end a common practice widely despised among foster youth: moving between homes with their possessions dumped in a garbage bag.
New York Lawmakers Approve Bill to Give Foster Youth Luggage | The Imprint
New York lawmakers have passed a bill that would end a common practice widely despised among foster youth: moving between homes with their possessions dumped in a garbage bag.
imprintnews.org
June 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
"Former foster youth who describe the humiliation of using garbage bags during such moves have spent months calling attention to the problem, through advocacy campaigns and public demonstrations."
New York is only the 4th state to end the use of trash bags.
New York is only the 4th state to end the use of trash bags.
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
#Breaking: 10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects buff.ly/DnBihzo
10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects
'Big, beautiful bill' would result in 10.9 million people losing health insurance, primarily Medicaid.
buff.ly
June 4, 2025 at 2:41 PM
#Breaking: 10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects buff.ly/DnBihzo
"From failing to publicize a major outbreak to scaling back safety alert specialists and rules, the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory and cost-cutting push risks unraveling a critical system that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety - KFF Health News
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
kffhealthnews.org
May 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"From failing to publicize a major outbreak to scaling back safety alert specialists and rules, the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory and cost-cutting push risks unraveling a critical system that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
In a letter to the editor, a group claimed that my story about executive orders that target transgender people took "a one-sided approach to the debate on the care of transgender youth."
These are my thoughts:
(Read the story here:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...)
These are my thoughts:
(Read the story here:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...)
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
In a letter to the editor, a group claimed that my story about executive orders that target transgender people took "a one-sided approach to the debate on the care of transgender youth."
These are my thoughts:
(Read the story here:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...)
These are my thoughts:
(Read the story here:
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...)
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
In California, Black women are at least three times as likely as white women to die of pregnancy-related causes. Black infants have the highest rates of preterm birth and mortality. But programs to address racial disparities appear at risk. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Fate of Black Maternal Health Programs Is Unclear Amid Federal Cuts - KFF Health News
In California, Black women are at least three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. Santa Clara County initiatives aimed at reducing racial disparities work but depend o...
kffhealthnews.org
April 22, 2025 at 8:57 PM
In California, Black women are at least three times as likely as white women to die of pregnancy-related causes. Black infants have the highest rates of preterm birth and mortality. But programs to address racial disparities appear at risk. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"About two-thirds of Republican-leaning parents are unaware of an uptick in measles cases this year while about two-thirds of Democratic ones knew about it, according to a KFF survey released Wednesday."
With measles cases in more than half of states, misinformation about the disease and its vaccines is spreading too, with attitudes sharply polarized by political party. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Measles Misinformation Is on the Rise — And Americans Are Hearing It, Survey Finds - KFF Health News
Attitudes about a debunked link between measles vaccines and autism haven’t budged that much. But there’s a sharp partisan divide over whether the vaccine is safe.
kffhealthnews.org
April 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
"About two-thirds of Republican-leaning parents are unaware of an uptick in measles cases this year while about two-thirds of Democratic ones knew about it, according to a KFF survey released Wednesday."
Under a massive restructuring, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will become part of the new Administration for a Healthy America.
Mental health and substance use experts are worried.
Mental health and substance use experts are worried.
April 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Under a massive restructuring, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will become part of the new Administration for a Healthy America.
Mental health and substance use experts are worried.
Mental health and substance use experts are worried.
HHS terminated about $11 billion in grants, including $1 billion from SAMHSA that was meant to help states respond to the mental health ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, a judge blocked that termination.
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
April 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
HHS terminated about $11 billion in grants, including $1 billion from SAMHSA that was meant to help states respond to the mental health ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, a judge blocked that termination.
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
Two physicians are suing the Trump administration over the removal of two research papers from a government website, because they included the terms “LGBTQ” and “trans(gender).”
Harvard Medical physicians sue over removal of articles mentioning 'LGBTQ' from government website
The ACLU, which represents the plaintiffs, says that the Trump administration has "no business dictating what facts are permissible, or dictating what views researchers....can express."
buff.ly
March 12, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Two physicians are suing the Trump administration over the removal of two research papers from a government website, because they included the terms “LGBTQ” and “trans(gender).”
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
Excellent reporting on the chaos, staff reduction, and demoralization taking place across SAMHSA via @rosebroderick.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/03/12/s...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/12/s...
‘Deliberate trauma’: SAMHSA employees detail a federal agency in shambles
Staff cuts at SAMSHA will imperil federal efforts to curb suicides and drug overdose deaths, employees say.
www.statnews.com
March 12, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Excellent reporting on the chaos, staff reduction, and demoralization taking place across SAMHSA via @rosebroderick.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/03/12/s...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/12/s...
My colleagues did a great story about what happens now that the clozapine REMS are no more. The REMS was a burdensome program, advocates say, that prevented patients with schizophrenia from getting this life-saving medicine. (1/5)
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
March 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
My colleagues did a great story about what happens now that the clozapine REMS are no more. The REMS was a burdensome program, advocates say, that prevented patients with schizophrenia from getting this life-saving medicine. (1/5)
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
There tends to be an assumption that Medicaid is just for the poor. In reality it covers 72 million Americans, paying for about half of all nursing care and 40 percent of births. (Corrected post: The earlier one said Medicare, not Medicaid). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
More Than 70 Million Americans Are on Medicaid. This Is Where They Live.
As Republicans weigh deep cuts, these congressional districts — some red, some blue — have the most to lose.
www.nytimes.com
March 3, 2025 at 5:48 PM
There tends to be an assumption that Medicaid is just for the poor. In reality it covers 72 million Americans, paying for about half of all nursing care and 40 percent of births. (Corrected post: The earlier one said Medicare, not Medicaid). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
APA's statement on transgender individuals serving in the military: www.psychiatry.org/News-room/Ne...
APA Statement on Gender Dysphoria and Military Readiness
Whether an individual with gender dysphoria is able to meet the “high standards for service member readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity,” quoted in Executive Or...
www.psychiatry.org
February 28, 2025 at 8:11 PM
APA's statement on transgender individuals serving in the military: www.psychiatry.org/News-room/Ne...
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
“Although the risk of severe neutropenia with clozapine still exists, FDA has determined that the REMS program for clozapine is no longer necessary to ensure the benefits of the medicine outweigh that risk.” ow.ly/kFZw50V6xsP
February 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
“Although the risk of severe neutropenia with clozapine still exists, FDA has determined that the REMS program for clozapine is no longer necessary to ensure the benefits of the medicine outweigh that risk.” ow.ly/kFZw50V6xsP
Reposted by Katie O'Connor
I spoke with the American Psychiatric Associaiton's Psychiatric News about the impact of Trump's recent executive orders targeting #trans youth.
@apapsychiatric.bsky.social
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
@apapsychiatric.bsky.social
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
February 26, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I spoke with the American Psychiatric Associaiton's Psychiatric News about the impact of Trump's recent executive orders targeting #trans youth.
@apapsychiatric.bsky.social
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
@apapsychiatric.bsky.social
psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...