A Law to Fix Mental-Health Care

In the wake of gun violence such as occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Virginia Tech, commissions are organized and institutional reviews are conducted. Rarely, however, are meaningful reforms proposed.

The legislation recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, is a refreshing change. The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013 addresses a long list of inadequacies in services for people who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar illness, major depression and other severe conditions -- problems that Murphy uncovered in his yearlong investigation of the U.S. mental-health system.