Veterans Affairs News and Research

RSS

Viewpoints: VA fix comes with big pricetag; safety outside abortion clinics; questions about Medicaid eligibility

As an example of how the normally sclerotic Congress can act extremely quickly when properly motivated, both chambers passed bills this week to ameliorate the Veterans Affairs health services scandal.

16 Jun 2014

Lung cancer screening with LDCT not associated with long term distress

Examination and review of several studies that evaluated patient-centered outcomes for individuals undergoing low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer found that screening does not appear to significantly influence overall health-related quality of life or result in long-term changes in anxiety or distress, but that positive results in the short-term, do increase distress levels.

16 Jun 2014

Poll: Fixing vets' health care high priority

Elsewhere, a senator defends his vote against legislation to try to improve the VA's health care, and The Associated Press looks at doctor's appointment wait times for all Americans.

16 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: GOP and governing; Va. Medicaid expansion chances falling fast; private care for vets

The forces of political nihilism not only remain alive and well within the Republican Party, but they are on the rise.

13 Jun 2014

Senate backs bipartisan bill to overhaul vets' health care system

The Senate measure, which was approved Wednesday by a 93-3 vote and has gained the White House's nod, has elements in common with a version unanimously approved Tuesday by the House of Representatives.

13 Jun 2014

FBI announces criminal investigation into VA problems

Director James Comey says the FBI has opened a probe into allegations that employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs manipulated waiting lists and delayed care for veterans.

13 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 12, 2014

Today's headlines include stories examining how Eric Cantor's primary defeat will change the House GOP leadership and the Republican strategy to replace the health law.

12 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Cantor was no RINO; battles over Medicaid in Va. and Ind.; reforms moving for VA

Ideas have consequences. Elections sure do, too. David Brat's victory over Eric Cantor is stunning, to state the glaringly obvious. ... Brat's victory also moves the Virginia GOP even further to the right. No one ever could have mistaken Cantor -; who organized 50 votes to repeal Obamacare -; for a RINO, let alone a limousine liberal. But for many GOP diehards, he was insufficiently confrontational (6/11).

12 Jun 2014

BRI researchers use tetramer technology to find T cells that drive rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason used cutting-edge tetramer technology developed at BRI to find the T cells that drive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). "By using tetramer technology, we were able to examine whether T cells in people with rheumatoid arthritis were increased in number or were unique in other ways," says BRI Associate Director Jane Buckner, MD, who led the study with BRI Tetramer Core Laboratory Manager Eddie James, PhD.

12 Jun 2014

Cancer drug offers protection against thrombosis

Case Western Reserve University researchers have discovered that an existing drug used to help cancer patients has the potential to protect thousands of others from the often-deadly impact of vascular clots.

12 Jun 2014

House unanimously passes bill to revamp VA care

The measure would allow vets to seek private care if they couldn't be seen quickly by the VA and requires an evaluation of the VA health system.

11 Jun 2014

Health tips for global travellers

Nothing ruins a summer vacation faster than getting sick. "Remember that most diseases are transmitted by food, water and insects," says John A. Sellick, Jr., DO, University at Buffalo associate professor of medicine and hospital epidemiologist at Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System. "So get vaccinated, keep insects off you as much as possible and be careful with what you put in your mouth."

11 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 11, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of stories about the upset of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor -- a Virginia primary election shocker -- as well as continuing coverage of health law implementation issues and congressional responses to the VA's health care troubles.

11 Jun 2014

Human herpes simplex virus infected human approximately 1.6 million years ago

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the evolutionary origins of human herpes simplex virus (HSV) -1 and -2, reporting that the former infected hominids before their evolutionary split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago while the latter jumped from ancient chimpanzees to ancestors of modern humans - Homo erectus - approximately 1.6 million years ago.

11 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: 'Bureaucratic Ninja' for the VA; Soap Opera in Virginia; hospital readmissions

By pulling out of the running to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs, Cleveland Clinic head Toby Cosgrove has given the administration a chance to think harder about what the VA needs most right now.

11 Jun 2014

VA audit finds 57,000 vets have been waiting for more than 3 months for care

The examination also uncovered difficulties in scheduling appointments and a culture in which employees were pressured to change data.

11 Jun 2014

Type 2 diabetes Patients who take metformin plus insulin at higher risk for heart disease, death

Patients with type 2 diabetes who take a combination of metformin plus insulin may be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and death compared with those who take a combination of metformin plus sulfonylurea, according to a new study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that appears in the June 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Jun 2014

The details of the VA waiting game at specific locations around the country

Media outlets scrutinize how local Veterans Affairs health facilities fared in a national audit of 731 VA hospitals and clinics.

11 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 10, 2014

Today's headlines include details of an extensive, nationwide audit of the wait times for care at VA hospitals and clinics.

10 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: 'Triage' at the VA; GOP can't 'fix' health law; mental health problems in LA jail

Washington's attention span on the Veterans Affairs scandal seems to be expiring. Though 42 of the VA's 152 major campuses (27%) are still under investigation for falsifying wait-time records, the Senate is converging on a bipartisan deal that claims to solve the problem.

10 Jun 2014