WASHINGTON — With more than half of all pregnancies unintended among female troops, the explosive issue of abortions is again being reviewed by Congress. In the latest salvo in that ongoing battle, New York’s Rep. Louise Slaughter and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, are proposing legislation to allow female troops to get an abortion at military hospitals at their own expense or have abortion covered in cases of rape or incest. Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll about whether female servicemembers should be allowed to get abortions at military hospitals at their own expense.

WASHINGTON — When Mike Partain got the news from his doctor in 2007 that he had male breast cancer, he was shocked. There was no history of breast cancer in his family and certainly not among men.

WASHINGTON — “Seamless transition” has become a buzzword for change within VA and DoD, referring to the handing over of servicemembers into VA care without an interruption in care. One of the most frustrating barriers to that goal has been the system by which servicemembers are evaluated for disability and veterans benefits.

WASHINGTON — Imagine that future soldiers could one day wear a nano patch as part of an advanced battlesuit that would relay their vital signals and administer medicine if they were injured in battle. Or, that remotely controlled unmanned vehicles could assist in medication delivery or evacuating casualties from the battlefield.

WASHINGTON—Cancer organizations were pleased that funding was not reduced for the peer-reviewed prostate, breast and ovarian cancer programs in DoD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) in the FY 2011 Defense budget.

WASHINGTON—If there is one fact that Marianne Elliott, chair of the U.S. Military Cancer Institute (USMCI) Institutional Review Board (IRB), wants investigators to know, it is that the USMCI’s new cancer research review board is “open for business.”

WASHINGTON—Despite significant efforts by DoD and VA to revamp the disability evaluation process, the new system remains “complex and adversarial,” the top Army doctor told a congressional subcommittee.

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).

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.

Patients with chronic traumatic encephalopathy are sometimes diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias until post-mortem brain examination proves otherwise. CTE, a preventable form of dementia believed to be caused by repetitive mild head injuries, has been identified in former boxers and football players. Now researchers are turning their attention to former soldiers with mild head injuries to determine whether CTE could cause future dementia development.