WASHINGTON—The COVID-19 pandemic closed many hospitals and clinics across the U.S. this spring, but that didn’t stop the VA from supporting veterans with serious mental illness. To the contrary, it led to an expansion of service approaches that may prove valuable even...
A Battle on Two Fronts: Coronavirus and Addiction
BETHESDA, MD—Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had been fighting one daunting national health crisis already when the COVID-19 pandemic launched its attack on the U.S. Now, these federal scientists face the dual challenges of reducing the...
VA Program ‘Annie’ Helps Veterans Cope during Pandemic
LOUISVILLE, KY—Veterans struggling with anxiety, depression, and isolation as COVID-19 continues to rage across the country have a virtual buddy to help them through. Annie, a new program from the VA’s Office of Connected Care, provides guidance to veterans to manage...
Serum Testosterone Inversely Associated With Asthma Prevalence
TAMPA, FL—Do testosterone levels affect asthma prevalence and lung function? A new study sought to answer that question. The report in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology in Practice pointed out that asthma prevalence decreases post-puberty in males,...
Deployment Doesn’t Appear to Affect Sarcoidosis in Soldiers
FORT BRAGG, NC—Based on research investigating the potential link between deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and increases in pulmonary disease, data on conditions such as asthma and airway hyperreactivity are well established, but...
What Leads to Pulmonology Referrals for Veterans With COPD?
BOSTON—At the VA and elsewhere, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often is managed by primary care physicians and sometimes pulmonologists, but it is not clear what factors spur consultations by pulmonary specialists. In fact, according to a report in Respiratory...
Recent Veterans Have ‘Alarmingly High’ Rates of Insomnia Disorder
Study Linked Severe Sleep Problems with PTSD, Suicide SAN DIEGO—Recent veterans who receive care at the VA have “alarmingly high” rates of insomnia disorder, according to a new study finding that the condition was diagnosed in more than half of the sample studied. The...
COVID-19 Pandemic Might Lead the Way for More Inpatient CGM Use
Devices Allow Remote Monitoring of Blood Glucose Levels ATLANTA—A silver lining in the dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic might be that healthcare systems have been forced to reconsider many processes, especially those involving close contact with patients. According...
Pandemic Puts Spotlight on Problems With VA’s Healthcare Supply Chain
WASHINGTON—The difficulties VA faced during the early weeks of the pandemic ensuring its facilities had an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) confirmed what agency officials have recognized for some time: The healthcare system’s supply chain system...
Slow Reopening After COVID-19 Closures Means VHA Backlogs
WASHINGTON—As VA facilities across the country begin the process of a staggered reopening, most are facing a backlog of appointments, surgeries and disability examinations. While some healthcare needs were able to be met through telehealth during the last few months,...
VA Plans for the Unimaginable: A Natural Disaster During the Pandemic
WASHINGTON—Hurricane season officially began on June 1, and VA officials were asked by legislators to reassure the American public that the department was capable of dealing with another natural disaster while remaining on a pandemic footing. VA leaders expressed...
VA’s Hydroxychloroquine Stockpile Mainly Being Used for Chronic Disease
FDA Rescinds Drug’s Emergency Use for COVID-19 WASHINGTON—After months of controversy on the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for severe COVID-19, the Food and Drug Administration rescinded the emergency use authorization (EUA) allowing physicians to...
Rural Areas Present Challenges for Gathering Medication History
BIRMINGHAM, AL—Even more than other veterans, those in rural areas often see providers and obtain medications outside the VA system, in many cases because the closest VA facility might be distant from their home or they have a primary care provider in their community....
ART Has Changed the Cancers Associated with HIV
New York—Antiretroviral therapy transformed infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a death sentence to a chronic condition, along the way changing virtually everything about the disease, including its association with cancer. For years, specific...
Weight Gain May Endanger Some Benefits of Hepatitis C Cure
NEW HAVEN, CT—A year ago the VA announced it had eliminated chronic infections with hepatitis C virus in all veterans willing and able to be treated. More than 100,000 veterans achieved sustained virological response or a cure with the help of direct-acting antivirals...
DoD Targets 8,000 Units of Convalescent Plasma in Battle Against COVID-19
FALLS CHURCH, VA—The DoD has committed to collecting more than 8,000 units of plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 by September 30, 2020. The collection will enable researchers to better understand trends in antibody production in individuals who have...
VA Touts Lower CLC COVID-19 Rates vs. Community Nursing Homes
WASHINGTON—While attention has been focused on the challenges VA faced during the first wave of the pandemic, the department has logged two notable successes compared to its civilian counterparts: Low infection rates in its community living centers (CLCs) and low...
The Real Enemy is Arrogance
“The real enemy is arrogance.” —fictional Gen. Mark Naird, Netflix “Space Force,” Episode 10.
Like many Americans, I thought we had reached rock bottom in terms of things going wrong for our society, but it appears we have begun to dig. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have scoured the pleasant American veneer of union and equal rights under law and exposed this fiction as the true reality of our society. The reality being exposed is the unpleasant and deeply painful truth of institutionalized racism and wealth inequality that has plagued our culture since its inception with the signing of the Constitution. This is not to say we have not made progress. There is no denying that our struggle to form a more perfect union in this regard has advanced since the American Civil War; the first major surgery to begin the process of addressing racism through the abolishment of slavery.
CE Credits
