WASHINGTON—The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, created in 2017 to make it safer for VA employees to come forward about...
News
VFW Report: 91% of Veterans Recommend VA Care to Others
WASHINGTON—What a difference a year makes. The 2019 “Our Care” report from the Veterans of Foreign Wars found that 91% of veterans surveyed...
Current Issue
VA’s Innovation Chief Sees Himself as a Catalyst to Bring People, Ideas Together
PALO ALTO, CA—The journey of Thomas Osborne, MD, into medicine was not a straight line, but it was a path that seems strangely appropriate...
Drug Shortages Put Veterans at Risk, Often for Months at a Time
VA Is Part of Group Looking at National Solutions WASHINGTON—Drug shortages have plagued hospitals with their frequency, breadth and duration over...
Clinical Topics
Nephrologists Face ‘Emotional Burden’ in Treating CKD
BOSTON—Even though U.S. clinical practice guidelines generally recommend that nephrologists discuss all treatment options, including conservative...
Do VA PCPs Over-Prescribe Corticosteroids for Mild-Moderate COPD?
CLEVELAND—Veterans are three times more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than the general population, and COPD is the fifth...
Common Blood Test Identifies Veterans at High Risk of Diabetes
ATLANTA—A test included in nearly all routine blood chemistry panels provides a surprising window on a patient’s future health. The random plasma...
No Higher Rates of Exacerbation in COPD Patients Using Beta-Blockers
VA Researchers Also Can’t Identify Protective Effects BIRMINGHAM, AL—Multiple observational studies have suggested that beta blockers benefit...
U.S. Medicine Supplements
CE Credits
Editor-In-Chief, Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD, COL (ret.), MC, USA
“Not Part of the Ordinary Medical School Curricula”
“Treating mass casualties or performing emergency procedures in the middle of a firefight or while under chemical attack are not part of the ordinary medical school curricula.”
Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-MD) Constance “Connie” Morella was a Republican representative for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District from 1987-2003 during the Bill Clinton presidency and made the above comment in 1994.
At that time, Vice President Al Gore and a team of congressional leaders were working to reduce the nation’s deficit. They were planning the demise of the Uniformed Services University, suggesting that military physicians and nurses could be procured from civilian medical institutions through health professions scholarship programs at significantly less cost than graduates from America’s only military medical school. Clinton’s spending plan for the 1994 fiscal year called for the first significant steps to close the institution.
What Is Link Between Kidney Injury Recovery, Function Loss?
NASHVILLE, TN—While future chronic kidney disease is linked to the extent of recovery of kidney function following acute kidney injury, how the timing of recovery affects the rate of future loss of kidney function is not as well understood. In response, a...
Agent Orange Effects on Spirometric Restriction Under-Researched
WASHINGTON—With no published reports on spirometric restriction in herbicide-exposed Vietnam War veterans serving in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, a group of researchers decided to examine the issue. The review in the International Journal of Environmental Research...
Obesity Doesn’t Affect BP Declines with Sleep Apnea Therapy
PHILADELPHIA—Many, but not all, patients with obstructive sleep apnea see a decline in blood pressure with positive airway pressure treatment. A new study raised the question of whether the BP response related to sleep apnea therapy might be linked to obesity. The...
VA Gears Up for Benefit Claims Influx Related to Blue Water Navy Act
As Many as 90,000 Veterans Could Become Eligible WASHINGTON—With as many as 90,000 veterans waiting in the wings to apply for benefits, the VA said it will be ready to handle the influx of new claims when the provisions of the Blue Water Navy Act go into effect on...
Internet ‘Spoofing’ Often Targets Veterans; Related Stress Affects Health
WASHINGTON—While anyone can be the target of online scams, veterans might be especially vulnerable to internet fraud and social media identity theft, according to veterans’ advocates. Making the situation even worse, they testified before the House Veterans Affairs...
Legislators Concerned about VA’s Slow Response to Cybersecurity Threats
WASHINGTON—While VA is moving swiftly forward with a number of major technology projects, including a new electronic health records system, the agency’s advancements in cybersecurity are progressing at a glacial rate, according to reports from VA watchdogs. This has...
Why Do Women Veterans Report More Symptoms Following Mild TBI?
WASHINGTON—Following a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion, female veterans report more neurobehavioral symptoms, use more outpatient services and are more often diagnosed with depression than their male counterparts, according to a recent VA study.1 But why?...
PTSD Increases Risk of Early Stroke, TIA in Young Veterans
More Significant Risk Factor than Diabetes, Sleep Apnea CHAPEL HILL, NC—Developing posttraumatic stress disorder as a young adult doubles a veteran’s risk of a transient ischemic attack before middle age, according to a new study. The research, published in the Stroke...
VAMCs Continue to Lag in HCP Flu Vaccine Mandates
ANN ARBOR, MI—The VA continues to lag behind community hospitals in mandating annual influenza vaccine for all healthcare personal, a new study suggested. The report in JAMA Network Open said requiring HCP vaccination against the flu helps limit disease spread to...
Executive Order Enlists DoD Help in Modernizing Flu Vaccine
WASHINGTON—A new executive order is aimed at increasing the manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness of flu vaccines. The DoD and Department of Health and Human Services are co-chairing a task force in the process of implementing the order signed in September by...
OIG Report: VA Did Opposite When It Came to Protecting Whistleblowers
WASHINGTON—The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, created in 2017 to make it safer for VA employees to come forward about problems they identify with the agency, actually has been doing the opposite of its stated purpose, according to a report from...
VFW Report: 91% of Veterans Recommend VA Care to Others
WASHINGTON—What a difference a year makes. The 2019 “Our Care” report from the Veterans of Foreign Wars found that 91% of veterans surveyed recommend VA care to other veterans, up nearly 15% from last year’s 80%. In addition, three-quarters of those veterans said that...
“Not Part of the Ordinary Medical School Curricula”
“Treating mass casualties or performing emergency procedures in the middle of a firefight or while under chemical attack are not part of the ordinary medical school curricula.”
Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-MD) Constance “Connie” Morella was a Republican representative for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District from 1987-2003 during the Bill Clinton presidency and made the above comment in 1994.
At that time, Vice President Al Gore and a team of congressional leaders were working to reduce the nation’s deficit. They were planning the demise of the Uniformed Services University, suggesting that military physicians and nurses could be procured from civilian medical institutions through health professions scholarship programs at significantly less cost than graduates from America’s only military medical school. Clinton’s spending plan for the 1994 fiscal year called for the first significant steps to close the institution.
Prostate Cancer Survival Unimproved with Androgen Blockade Addition
SAN DIEGO—While the addition of androgen...
Post-Surgical Prostate Cancer Surveillance Not Guideline-Concordant
ANN ARBOR, MI—Does guideline concordance with...
Grant Program to Prevent Veteran Suicide Leads to Fractious Debate
WASHINGTON—The fight to push forward legislation...
Latest Attempt to Uptake VA’s Financial Management System Raising Concerns
WASHINGTON—Though it might be lost among VA’s...