WASHINGTON—The Army’s efforts to improve acute and chronic pain management in injured troops have been recently honored by the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM).

WASHINGTON—The President’s proposed budget for FY 2012 includes no deep cuts in HHS agencies, and even includes a small increase for NIH research. But that increase is tiny in comparison to the boost in research dollars that was provided through the Recovery Act during the last two years—$10.2 billion overall.

WASHINGTON—Women veterans are dissatisfied with many of the services provided through the VA health-care system, including screening processes for military sexual trauma (MST) that new enrollees receive, according to a survey conducted by the American Legion.

WASHINGTON—In June 2010, legislation was passed making it considerably easier for veterans diagnosed with PTSD to receive service-connected benefits and care from VA.

WASHINGTON—A military research clinical trial evaluating the use of antioxidants to reduce sequela of mTBI in 80 troops after blast injury has come under fire by DoD’s Inspector General (IG).

Use short, simple sentences. Summarize key points throughout the appointment.
These are among the tips that a recently released toolkit recommends to providers treating military personnel with mTBI who are also suffering from co-occurring health conditions.

I recently returned from another medical training mission (our fifth annual visit) in Vietnam. These missions are tremendously valuable for training my fellowship and resident physicians on how to educate and function in challenging medical environments. Over the years I have had a number of military physicians comment that their medical mission experience was the single most important training they received in preparation for working in a battlefield environment. Our Vietnamese hosts benefit from the exposure to modern American medical technologies and procedures. While this mutually beneficial relationship has been a medical education success for both parties, I often think our team comes away with far more benefit then we necessarily bring.

WASHINGTON—A nationwide initiative by VA to reduce the spread of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) within its facilities has resulted in a dramatic drop of more than 60% in hospital-acquired infections in less than three years, according to a recent study.

WASHINGTON—Not that long ago, a woman who had been sexually assaulted might have gone to an Army Military Treatment Facility (MTF), had a forensic examination and then would go home without anyone at the MTF knowing what became of her.

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

I began my fascination with the scientific method and the process of research early in college. Decades later (more than I like to admit) as I look back, I am awed at the accelerating pace of medical discovery and dismayed at the concurrent explosion in the bureaucracy of research conduct known as the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Most of my medical research colleagues consider ‘IRB’ a four-letter word, and we all have personal horror stories of navigating procedural insanity imposed by IRBs, sometimes euphemistically referred to as the ‘office of preventative research,” in the name of human subject protection.