WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT—Under the MISSION Act, veterans who meet certain criteria can opt to receive medical care—including surgery—from community...
News
‘Bad Paper’ Discharges Keep Many Veterans From Receiving VA Care
WASHINGTON—While most servicemembers receive honorable discharges, as many as 7% discharged since 1980 have what are commonly known as “bad paper”...
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...
Current Issue
Could VA’s Expedited Pandemic Hiring Become the New Normal?
More than 23,000 New Employees Have Joined Agency WASHINGTON—Thanks to an influx of emergency funding related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the...
Maher Seeks to Convince Women Veterans That VA Can Meet Their Needs
WASHINGTON—Currently, women make up 10% of U.S. veterans, and that percentage grows higher with each new generation of veterans. Yet, there has...
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...
COVID-19
Foundation Partners with VA to Offer Pandemic Caregiver Relief
WASHINGTON—Providing ongoing care for wounded, ill or injured veterans during ordinary times poses many challenges, but travel restrictions,...
VA Launches COVID-19 Insights Partnership with DOE and HHS
NEW HAVEN, CT—The VA along with the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have established a partnership to share health...
VA’s COVID-19 Cases Quadruple Between Early June, Late July
Number of Infected Employees Also Is Growing WASHINGTON—As the number of new coronavirus cases rose throughout the country, VA’s caseload grew as...
VA Takes Multi-track Approach for Veterans with Serious Mental Illness
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...
Editor-In-Chief, Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD, COL (ret.), MC, USA
Bad things are about to happen
“It feels like writing ‘Bad things are about to happen’ on a napkin and then setting the napkin on fire.” ~Colin Carlson
This month’s quote comes from Dr. Colin Carlson, a research professor specializing in infectious disease from Georgetown University who commented to reporter Ed Yong in The Atlantic magazine article entitled “The pandemic experts are not OK—many American public-health specialists are at risk of burning out as the coronavirus surges back” July 7, 2020. This comment struck me, because it sums up the last several months of watching SARS-CoV-2, dubbed COVID-19) spread out-of-control around most of this country. It has been heart-wrenching to watch exhausted healthcare workers, battling on the front lines of this pandemic, pleading with Americans to take this viral epidemic seriously.
Mild TBI Exacerbates Issues for Early Binge Drinkers
Does early adolescent binge drinking (BD) increases the risk for and/or severity of psychopathology in post-9/11 veterans, and how does mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) affect the risk?
Most At-Risk Veterans Don’t Get Suicide Counseling
Despite all of the focus on preventing suicides in those who have served in the military, a significant proportion of veterans with suicidal ideation do not take advantage of available mental health treatment, according to a new study.
Robinson Empowers Pacific Islands Staff as New Healthcare Director
Adam M. Robinson Jr., MD, the newly minted director of the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System, has a story about a three-legged stool. It’s one that he tells enough that his employees end up learning it by heart.
‘Happy Hypoxia’ Might Not Be Such a Mystery After All in COVID-19
Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians were often baffled by patients who presented with extremely low levels of oxygen. Although oxygenation was so low it was potentially life-threatening in some cases, patients showed no obvious difficulty in breathing.
VA Analysis Finds Significant Benefit for Statins in Veterans 75 and Older
Cholesterol Drug Use Linked to 25% Reduced Risk of All-Cause Death BOSTON – In recent years, increased focus has been on deprescribing preventive medication for older patients. The concern has been polypharmacy and related risks from taking too many drugs. But what if...
Erectile Dysfunction Medications Appear to Lower Some Colorectal Cancer Risks
COLUMBIA, SC—PDE-5 inhibitors are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat erectile dysfunction, but a new study suggested that the drugs also might be a viable chemopreventive agent for some types of cancer. The article in Clinical and Translational...
Biomarkers Identify Better Physical Resilience in Some Patients
DURHAM, NC—Physical resilience can make a different to how patients respond to health stressors, even if they appear to be clinically similar. A study in the Journals of Gerontology Series A pointed out that molecular mechanisms underlying physical resilience often...
TKA Outcomes Linked to Inappropriate Medications Among Veterans
ATLANTA—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Beers Criteria is a list of potentially inappropriate medications that are typically best avoided by older adults in most circumstances or under specific situations, such as in certain diseases or conditions. A study in...
Helicopter Pilots Face Greater Risk of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
HONOLULU—Helicopter pilots are burdened with an increased risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a new study. The report in Military Medicine pointed out that the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome is increased in occupations exposed to repetitive motion, poor...
Data Predicts Life Expectancy of Older Veterans With Diabetes
BOSTON—Can the five- and 10-year life expectancy of older diabetes patients be predicted by history of co-morbid health conditions and medication? A new study suggested it can. The VA Boston Healthcare System-led study suggested that the ability to make such...
VA Whistleblower Protection Office Takes Action in Only 2% of Its Cases
The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection has followed through with only a small fraction of the cases it has investigated.
VA Surgical Quality Meets or Exceeds Nearby Community Hospitals
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT—Under the MISSION Act, veterans who meet certain criteria can opt to receive medical care—including surgery—from community providers instead of the VA. Based on the results of a new study, they might not want to, however. A new study...
Bad things are about to happen
“It feels like writing ‘Bad things are about to happen’ on a napkin and then setting the napkin on fire.” ~Colin Carlson
This month’s quote comes from Dr. Colin Carlson, a research professor specializing in infectious disease from Georgetown University who commented to reporter Ed Yong in The Atlantic magazine article entitled “The pandemic experts are not OK—many American public-health specialists are at risk of burning out as the coronavirus surges back” July 7, 2020. This comment struck me, because it sums up the last several months of watching SARS-CoV-2, dubbed COVID-19) spread out-of-control around most of this country. It has been heart-wrenching to watch exhausted healthcare workers, battling on the front lines of this pandemic, pleading with Americans to take this viral epidemic seriously.
Switch to Long-Acting Injectable Reduces VA Costs for Schizophrenia Care
Schizophrenia can be frightening and life-changing. Common symptoms such as disorganized thinking and speech, lack of expressive emotion, social withdrawal, neglect of self-care, hallucinations and delusions alienate individuals with schizophrenia from others and create barriers to day-to-day functioning in society.
Biomarker IDs Veterans at Risk of Poor Skin Cancer Prognosis
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) biomarker is associated with systemic inflammation and poor prognosis in solid tumors.
Study Reveals Risks of Non-Dermatologists Treating Melanoma
Military personnel often have more exposure to sunlight, compared to their civilian counterparts, and that can increase their risk of melanoma.
Some IBD Patients Have Increased Skin Cancer Risk
Past research has cautioned about the risk of skin cancer with use of immunosuppressive medications. Yet, a new study pointed out, there is limited information on repeated basal cell cancer (BCC) occurrences among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, especially those who use immunosuppressive medications.