Survey Finds 'Information Overload'
HOUSTON - Almost a third of primary care providers missed test results received through VA's electronic health record (EHR) notification system, possibly because of "information overload," according to a survey conducted by researchers from the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston.

Opinion poll: Is VA’s electronic health record notification system an effective way to get test result information to healthcare providers? Please click here to participate in this month's U.S. Medicine readership poll.

WASHINGTON - Assurance that VA is on track to eliminate its backlog on reviewing disability claims is being meet with skepticism by lawmakers as well as military and veteran service organizations.

ATLANTA - An intensive weight loss program involving dieting, counseling and physical activity offers the promise of diabetes remission, especially in patients who are recently-diagnosed, not on insulin and have lower hemoglobin A levels

RICHMOND, VA - While knee-replacement surgery often is sought so patients can return to a more active lifestyle, patients who undergo the procedure might be at greater risk of gaining weight than those who have not had the surgery.

Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common bloodborne infection in the United States, affecting more than three million Americans. HCV-infected patients are much more likely than the general U.S. population to develop life-threatening complications, such as cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although antiviral treatment can cure HCV infection, these therapies have historically had low efficacy rates and significant toxicities.

Researchers Trying to Understand Why
DURHAM, NC - Researchers are grappling with the results of a new study that shows an association between increased exercise and reduced risk of prostate cancer in white men but not black men.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - How much of a role are clinical pharmacists playing in patient care at VA?

WAYNE, NJ - Tthe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bayer's Stivarga (regorafenib) tablets to treat patients with locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who have been previously treated with imatinib mesylate and sunitinib malate, according to Bayer HealthCare and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

SAN DIEGO - Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that Ofirmev (acetaminophen) injection has been made available on the VA National Formulary (VANF) and must be available for prescription at all VA facilities.

SAN FRANCISCO - The FDA has approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine or T-DM1) for the treatment of people with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC) who have received prior treatment with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and a taxane chemotherapy.