BOSTON - For the first time, researchers have categorized chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease associated with repeated brain trauma in military combat and contact sports, into four stages of severity.

WASHINGTON - In a contentious hearing, members of a House committee accused the VA of being too slow in responding to congressional questions about conference spending and of repeatedly changing estimates of how much was actually spent on meetings in 2011.

WASHINGTON - The VA has been under pressure by Congress to reform management of its policy of appointing fiduciaries to oversee care for veterans unable to do it themselves.

WASHINGTON — A group of federal medical facilities has earned accolades this fall for “exemplary” performance in using evidence-based care processes.

WASHINGTON — The use of trained dogs has been accepted therapy since the 1960s for persons with visual, hearing and mobility impairments. Only recently, however, have service dogs been trained to assist men and women suffering from mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

CHICAGO - If VA and DoD expect to use the Lovell Federal Healthcare Center (FHCC) in Chicago as a blueprint for future joint facility integration projects, the departments will need to develop some kind of way to evaluate the success or failure at Lovell - something they have yet to do, according to an Institute of Medicine report.

WASHINGTON -DoD hopes to roll out by 2014 an application that would help servicemembers avoid chronic conditions, while lowering overall medical costs.

BETHESDA, MD — It never occurred to Lt. Col. Eric Holt, DO, that he wouldn’t fully recover from the multiple injuries — including traumatic brain injury — he suffered when an IED hit his vehicle in Afghanistan. The blast ripped the vehicle apart and threw Holt into a compound wall.

WASHINGTON - In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the 227th Preventive Medicine Medical Detachment, 62nd Medical Brigade, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord received orders to help Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in New York.

Washington — Hurricane Sandy, when it hit the northeast in October took a huge toll on the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System’s Manhattan facility, which continued to be closed from storm damage as of early this month.