WASHINGTON, DC—The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and VA held a conference last month examining suicide and suicide prevention. “For all of our sophisticated knowledge, we still do not know all there is to know about preventing a needless death from occurring,” Full Article

WASHINGTON, DC—In what is becoming an annual ritual, the House VA Committee invited dozens of veterans service organizations for a roundtable discussion on their legislative priorities. Topping the list was the growing backlog of disability claims, Full Article

A webinar last month provided medical responders with an understanding of the common types of injuries (crush injury and syndrome, wound care and management, tetanus) and public health challenges encountered in the immediate phase of the Haiti earthquake response. Full Article

WASHINGTON, DC—Mental healthcare providers in the military are not immune from developing compassion fatigue, experts said at the 2010 DoD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference held last month. “We are not immune from compassion fatigue by a long shot,” said Capt Joan Hunter, USPHS, RN, who is the director of psychological health for the National Guard Bureau. Full Article

WASHINGTON, DC—About 60 million people in the US have high blood pressure according to the CDC. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US. Often referred to as the “silent killer,” hypertension usually has no noticeable warning signs or symptoms until other serious problems arise. Full Article

WASHINGTON, DC—Smoking rates among US adults remained stalled in 2008, halting the nation’s progress toward ending the tobacco epidemic, according to the CDC. Full Article

This new section of U.S. Medicine will bring to our readers highlights from the peer-reviewed literature and clinical trials of topics that are of most universal interest to the readers of this multidisciplinary magazine. Full Article

washington, dc—The VA and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) want to take advantage of new opportunities afforded by evolving technology to reach those who are suicidal, officials said last month at the 2010 DoD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference. “It has been part of our effort to try to adapt ourselves [to changing technologies],” said SAMHSA suicide prevention expert Richard McKeon, PhD. Full Article

GAITHERSBURG, MD—There is an admonition that pediatricians can frequently be heard to say to other physicians: “Children are not just small adults.” This is no truer than when dealing with prescription drugs. Children are not immune to serious illness and disease—the kinds of disease that require powerful pharmaceuticals. But many times no pediatric formula exists and parents and physicians are left to play a guessing game Full Article

WASHINGTON, DC—The CDC has awarded $2.7 million to establish two new Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRCs). These new PERRCs will conduct research that will evaluate the structure, capabilities, and performance of public health systems for preparedness and emergency response activities. These new centers are additions to the existing seven research centers funded in 2008. Full Article