WASHINGTON — Veterans with PTSD are more likely than others to be prescribed opioids for post-injury pain, and that can lead to an increase in adverse mental and physical effects, according to a recent VA study.

WASHINGTON — Members of a House subcommittee questioned recently whether the Obama administration’s proposed budget for the Indian Health Service is sufficient to cover critical health needs, especially the lack of adequate sanitation facilities in the majority of homes.

WILKES-BARRE, PA — For staff and residents, life in a dementia-care unit often becomes a dance of frustration. The constant struggle to interpret the world around them upsets patients; the inability to keep residents from “acting out” exhausts staff members.

Minneapolis – A routine primary-care visit typically includes weighing-in, blood-pressure monitoring and a body-temperature check. In some cases, the physician may also listen to patients’ heart and breathing rhythms, look down their throats or check their ears.

Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll: Should cognitive screening become part of a routine primary-care office visit at VA?

The use of Tranexamic Acid (TXA) with blood component-based resuscitation following combat injury results in improved measures of cuagulopathy and survival, a recent study has concluded, leading to the use of the agent in casualty care for U.S. troops.

WASHINGTON — The Spanish flu epidemic occurred 94 years ago, yet researchers were able to reconstruct the 1918 influenza virus for study. That is just one benefit of the military’s premier pathology reference center, which recently held an open house to showcase its capabilities.

WASHINGTON — Scope of practice for pharmacists in the private sector needs to be expanded to improve the quality and costs of healthcare delivery, according to a new U.S. Public Health Service report.

WASHINGTON — As government agencies struggle with an ever-increasing number of drug shortages on a national level, pharmacists at VA hospitals deal with the problem — usually very successfully — on a day-to-day basis.

The survival rate for older men receiving colon cancer care and some types of lung cancer in VA was better than similar fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study out of Harvard Medical School. ¹