WASHINGTON — Poor synchronization between DoD and VA may be leading to a worsening of patient-care coordination. If the two departments do not start working together quickly to solve the issue, it could adversely affect the health of the veterans they are meant to be serving, government investigators warned. 

OLYMPIA, WA — As the tepid economy puts a vise on spending nationwide, state governments are searching for ways to take the pressure off their treasuries.

WASHINGTON — Military veterans injured between 2001 and 2005 are now retroactively eligible for traumatic injury benefits, even if they never deployed overseas to battle zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two recent studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have sent up a red flag for physicians caring for veterans with the disease; such patients appear to be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease due to inflammation and several other risk factors.

Patients who underwent elective total hip (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgeries in low-volume hospitals had a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and mortality following the procedure, a recent study suggests.

Half of bladder cancer seen in women can be linked to cigarette smoking, a National Cancer Institute study reports.

WASHINGTON — Patrick Doyle, PhD, has spent the last 31 years — the sum of his career as a communication disorder specialist — working with veterans struggling with aphasia. Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder typically caused by stroke, and is more common than Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy, affecting approximately one million Americans.

WASHINGTON — An antipsychotic medication commonly used by VA to treat combat-related PTSD has been found to have no discernible benefit. Patients taking the drug risperidone (Risperdal) did no better than those taking a placebo, according to a recent VA-run study.

WASHINGTON — Poor coordination and staffing problems were identified as major factors in veterans’ receiving inadequate care at Atlanta VA Medical Center mental-health clinics, according to a VA Inspector General (IG) report released last month. This report is the latest of many released by oversight agencies that point out the gaps in VA’s mental-health services.

WASHINGTON — Surgical errors have declined significantly at VA facilities nationwide, while the reporting of close calls has increased, according to a recent study. The study, conducted by VA researchers, credits agency-led quality improvement efforts with the decline in adverse events.