By Victoria J. Davey, PhD, MPH
VA Chief Officer of Public Health
The Office of Public Health within the Veterans Health Administration serves as the authority on public health issues for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

WASHINGTON — Frustrated by the numerous reports of veterans unable to receive timely mental healthcare at VA facilities, legislators have called for the VA Office of the Inspector General to conduct a formal audit of wait times.

WASHINGTON — Reports about suicide prevention constantly focus on the difficulty veterans have in receiving mental healthcare, even though the suicide rate is dropping.

WASHINGTON — VA’s program of giving out bonuses as retention incentives has been conducted without appropriate guidance or oversight, and many were handed out without regard for employee reviews, according to an audit conducted by the VA Inspector General’s Office.

BETHESDA, MD — With all of the attention given traumatic brain injury in recent years, it can be easy to forget that this is still a nascent area of medical science. It took six years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for the military leaders to realize the impact TBI — especially the cumulative effects of multiple mild TBI — was having on servicemembers.

BETHESDA, MD — Many men are receiving curative therapy for prostate cancer who would be better served by more passive, observational treatment, according to a panel of experts convened by the NIH.

“Smoke ’em if you got ’em.”

For generations of military personnel, that phrase originating in World War II was the signal to take a break or at least to cool their heels while waiting. So ingrained was tobacco use in military culture, it was reasonable to assume that cigarettes would be an integral part of relaxing or, ironically, taking a breather.

The problem of prescription opioid addiction is nothing new for U.S. military forces. It stretches back to the mid-1800s, when many wounded Civil War veterans became hooked on narcotics used to control their pain

BETHESDA, MD —A problem with insomnia, one of the shared symptoms of TBI and PTSD, sometimes can be overshadowed by what seem to be more serious, immediate symptoms. For those suffering from sleep disorders, however, exhaustion can quickly take over their lives.

WASHINGTON — VA has expanded traumatic injury benefits to include servicemembers who suffered injuries in the genitourinary organs during their service. These servicemembers will now be eligible for Servicemember Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI).