Veterans Affairs News and Research

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Tips for seniors to avoid serious complications from prescription meds

For seniors, October is a month in which medications - particularly prescription meds - will likely be on their minds. Not only is October national "Talk About Prescriptions Month," but Oct. 15 marks the start of Medicare's Annual Election Period during which beneficiaries can disenroll from, switch or enroll into a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.

1 Oct 2011

General Dynamics acquires Vangent

General Dynamics today completed its acquisition of Vangent Holding Corp., the parent company of Vangent, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare information technology and business systems to federal agencies.

1 Oct 2011

Patients with chronic hepatitis C less likely to take medications over time

Patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C become less likely to take their medications over time, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

30 Sep 2011

Cocaine use linked to increased risk of open-angle glaucoma

A study of the 5.3 million men and women seen in Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics in a one-year period found that use of cocaine is predictive of open-angle glaucoma, the most common type of glaucoma.

30 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. legislator's health bill comes under scrutiny; D.C. facing doctor shortage

A few hours earlier, using an obscure parliamentary procedure, the senator had carved the contents out of a bill about local gas taxes and "amended" it into a proposal to warn women about breast cancer risks. It was now speeding through the statehouse so fast, and with so little scrutiny, that Sen. Joe Simitian would later be on the defensive about one significant effect: a possible multimillion-dollar windfall for a medical business in his district.

29 Sep 2011

Lockheed Martin acquires QTC

Lockheed Martin Corporation has completed its acquisition of QTC Holdings Inc. The company, based in Diamond Bar, Calif., is the largest provider of outsourced medical evaluation services to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), processing more than 450,000 evaluations last year.

28 Sep 2011

Healthcare becoming an overdrive model feel half of the primary physicians

In a new poll of primary care physicians, nearly half of them said their patients received too much medical care and more than a quarter said they were practicing more aggressively than they'd like to. This could mean ordering more tests, prescribing more drugs or diagnosing people with diseases, although they would never have experienced any symptoms. On the other hand, just six percent of doctors believed their patients were getting too little care.

27 Sep 2011

NYU Langone to lead NVVLS on long-term effects of PTSD

NYU Langone Medical Center announced that Charles R. Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, was selected to lead the clinical evaluation component of a national survey — the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS) — on the long-term effects of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other related health conditions on Vietnam veterans.

27 Sep 2011

Subtle and unspoken clues exchanged by patients, doctors exert an influence on medical care

Subtle and unspoken clues exchanged by patients and doctors exert an influence on medical care, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Health System. Researchers analyzed video recordings of routine checkups and conducted follow-up interviews with participants to help elucidate signals sent and received on both sides of the examination table.

27 Sep 2011

VA sponsors National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic

Today, more than 100 recently injured Veterans are gathered in San Diego for the National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic, a special rehabilitation-related sporting event, sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

19 Sep 2011

CWRU receives NCI grant to advance treatment of gastrointestinal cancers

The National Cancer Institute has awarded $11.3 million to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to establish a center of excellence for research on gastrointestinal cancers.

19 Sep 2011

VA extends retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is extending retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers who suffered qualifying injuries during the period Oct. 7, 2001 to Nov. 30, 2005, regardless of the geographic location where the injuries occurred.

17 Sep 2011

Case Western Reserve awarded $11.3M to establish gastrointestinal cancer research center

The National Cancer Institute has awarded $11.3 million to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to establish a center of excellence for research on gastrointestinal cancers. The funding designates the university as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers - recognition extended to just one institution this year.

17 Sep 2011

In Md., hospital stay costs rise; VA hospital in Calif. revamps to meet needs of female vets

The cost of a hospital stay in Maryland is on the rise, but not as much as that nationally, according to a report released Wednesday by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. The average cost to stay in a Maryland hospital was $10,983 in fiscal year 2010, compared to $10,767 the previous year, according to the report. The 2 percent increase was lower than that nationally, where the cost of a hospital stay increased 3 percent.

16 Sep 2011

Researchers identify abnormal hippocampal blood flow in veterans with Gulf War illness

Blood flow abnormalities found in the brains of veterans with Gulf War illness have persisted 20 years after the war, and in some cases have gotten worse, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

14 Sep 2011

Curcumin suppresses cell signaling pathway that drives growth of head and neck cancer

Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

14 Sep 2011

USU, HJF to host 'The TBI Spectrum' symposium on Sept. 22

New Jersey Congressman and former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan and Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli will deliver keynote addresses at the fourth USU-HJF Military Medicine Symposium, "The TBI Spectrum," Sept. 22, 2011.

14 Sep 2011

U.S. officials step up enforcement of 'responsible corporate officer doctrine' to pursue violations of federal food and drug laws

Use of this doctrine allows federal officials to hold health care executives personally and criminally responsible for corporate violations. Meanwhile, in other news related to health care fraud and abuse, a number of states have reached settlements with firms accused of defrauding the Medicaid program.

14 Sep 2011

Data on veterans affairs hospitals shows high rates of readmissions

The Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated health care system in the country, has long employed many of the approaches Medicare is pushing on all hospitals to reduce unnecessary readmissions. But new data show VA hospital patients are just as likely to end up back in a hospital bed as are patients at private hospitals.

13 Sep 2011

A squirt of insulin up the nose for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers have noted in a small pilot study that squirting insulin deep into the nose where it travels to the brain might hold early Alzheimer’s disease at bay. At present there are no effective ways to prevent or delay the progress of Alzheimer’s. More than 5.4 million Americans and 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

13 Sep 2011

Veterans Affairs News and Research

Tips for seniors to avoid serious complications from prescription meds

General Dynamics acquires Vangent

Patients with chronic hepatitis C less likely to take medications over time

Cocaine use linked to increased risk of open-angle glaucoma

Roundup: Calif. legislator's health bill comes under scrutiny; D.C. facing doctor shortage

Lockheed Martin acquires QTC

Healthcare becoming an overdrive model feel half of the primary physicians

NYU Langone to lead NVVLS on long-term effects of PTSD

Subtle and unspoken clues exchanged by patients, doctors exert an influence on medical care

VA sponsors National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic

CWRU receives NCI grant to advance treatment of gastrointestinal cancers

VA extends retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers

Case Western Reserve awarded $11.3M to establish gastrointestinal cancer research center

In Md., hospital stay costs rise; VA hospital in Calif. revamps to meet needs of female vets

Researchers identify abnormal hippocampal blood flow in veterans with Gulf War illness

Curcumin suppresses cell signaling pathway that drives growth of head and neck cancer

USU, HJF to host 'The TBI Spectrum' symposium on Sept. 22

U.S. officials step up enforcement of 'responsible corporate officer doctrine' to pursue violations of federal food and drug laws

Data on veterans affairs hospitals shows high rates of readmissions

A squirt of insulin up the nose for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

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