Empirical Results for Current Health Policy: Parental Involvement Laws, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, and Prescription of Psychotropic Drugs for Youths
Sabia and Anderson examine state laws that require a pregnant minor contemplating an abortion to notify or obtain the consent of one or more parents before an abortion can legally be performed. They find that that these laws are associated with an increase in birth control and a reduction in reports of feelings of sadness or hopelessness among 13-to-17 year-old females. These effects must be taken into account in a full evaluation of the laws. Grossman and colleagues find that patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who receive a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) are much more likely to quit smoking than those who receive a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) or who are treated with medical management. These responses may partially offset the risks inherent to a more invasive procedure and help explain why the longer term outcomes for CABG patients often exceed those of those receiving PCI. Given the increasing popularity of the less expensive PCI option, it is important for doctors to emphasize the critical role played by lifestyle modification in CAD treatment and for policy makers to incorporate patient behavior into cost-effectiveness analysis. Cook and colleagues find that racial/ethnic differences in youth psychotropic drug use are predominantly driven by overuse among white youth rather than underuse by racial/ethnic minority youth. Given the benefits of appropriate use and the costs of overuse, their results suggest a need to improve prescription practices by physicians.