tagged w/ Veterans Affairs
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VA inspector general found gross violations in a VA human testing program; drug linked to suicide.
American News Project: This week in Arkansas the Veterans Affairs inspector general found gross violations in a VA human testing program. For soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, health care and the transition back into society are important issues. Questions are being raised about what types of health care treatments soldiers should receive. Congress held another hearing on a recent VA case involving veteran negligence based on a series of Washington Times articles. In VA hospitals a non-smoking drug Chantix is given to veterans to help them quit smoking. This even after the FDA, drug maker Pfizer and the VA itself found the drug to have serious risks, including suicidal behavior.VA inspector general found gross violations in a VA human testing program; drug linked... more
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Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war.
But the sheer number of women serving today -- more than 190,000 so far in Iraq and Afghanistan -- is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.
Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma, The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty they were sexually assaulted, raped, or were sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.
from the Navy Reserves, said people typically think of sexual harassment as someone making a comment about someone's appearance, but it goes well beyond that. In a war environment, living and working with someone exhibiting harassing behavior can potentially have long-term effects on troops' health and performance.
"There's automatically this thing that sexual harassment is not a big deal, it's not as bad as rape, and indeed it often is not as distressing as a completed sexual assault, but it still can be something that highly affects a person," Best said. Research also has found that working and living environments where unwanted sexual behaviors take place have been associated with increased odds of rape.
It's unknown whether incidents of rape and assault are higher in the military population than the civilian population. One study, however, of 1991 Persian Gulf War veterans found incidents of assault, rape and harassment were higher at war than in peacetime military samples, according to the VA's PTSD center.
It's only in recent years that the military and VA have kept comprehensive statistics, and even the two agencies define military sexual trauma differently.
What is known is that the effects of a military sexual trauma can be long lasting -- particularly for those who don't seek early help.
The VA still sees veterans who experienced sexual attacks in Vietnam -- and even World War II.
Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting... more
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A home buyer who is also a veteran, asks about buying a home from his girlfriend with a loan from the Veterans Administration, or a VA loan. He wants to know whether he can use his girlfriend's income on his VA home loan application. He needs to consider not only the VA's requirements, but also the future of his relationship with his girlfriend.A home buyer who is also a veteran, asks about buying a home from his girlfriend with... more
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WASHINGTON April 9, 2008, 01:17 am ET · Federal employees charged millions of dollars for Internet dating, tailor-made suits, lingerie, lavish dinners and other questionable expenses to their government credit cards over a 15-month period, congressional auditors say.
A report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, examined spending controls across the federal government following reports of credit-card abuse at departments including Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.WASHINGTON April 9, 2008, 01:17 am ET · Federal employees charged millions of... more
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A document from the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts an assertion made by the Army surgeon general that his office did not tell VA officials to stop helping injured soldiers with their military disability paperwork at a New York Army post.
The paperwork can help determine health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers.
Last week, NPR first described a meeting last March between an Army team from Washington and VA officials at Fort Drum Army base in upstate New York. NPR reported that Army representatives told the VA not to review the narrative summaries of soldiers' injuries, and that the VA complied with the Army's request.
The day the NPR story aired, Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker denied parts of the report. Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), who represents the Fort Drum area, told North Country Public Radio, that "The Surgeon General of the Army told me very flatly that it was not the Army that told the VA to stop this help." Now, NPR has obtained a four-page VA document that contradicts the surgeon general's statement to McHugh. It was written by one of the VA officials at Fort Drum on March 31, the day after the meeting. The document says Col. Becky Baker of the Army Surgeon General's office told the VA to discontinue counseling soldiers on the appropriateness of Defense Department ratings because "there exists a conflict of interest." How's that for a "foot in mouth" moment?
A document from the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts an assertion made by... more
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