National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. President Bush's 2003 proclamation: "On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the lives lost in that attack and salute the veterans of World War II. We also pay tribute to all those now serving America to advance freedom around the world." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/12/20031205-10.html


Medicare Bill has Benefits for Indian Country. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 signed by President Bush contains benefits for American Indian and Alaska Native people receiving health services from the IHS and tribal health programs. http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/PublicAffairs/PressReleases/index.asp

National Veterans Wheelchair Games Head North to Alaska in 2006. More than 500 disabled veterans will compete in the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world--the 26th National Veterans Wheelchair Games--in Anchorage, Alaska, from July 2-8, 2006, announced Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi. http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/PressArtInternet.cfm?id=707

Filipino Veterans Demand Equal Benefits. Filipino veterans came one step closer to their goal when President Bush signed a law last week making about 8,000 Filipino-American veterans in the United States eligible for VA health care. http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/12-9-2003/20031209004502_02.html



Finalists Announced for $25,000 Accessible America Award. The National Organization on Disability has announced 11 finalists in its third annual Accessible America Contest. The finalists were selected from 64 entries from around the country. http://www.nod.org/community/finalists.html

Female Med-School Applicants Surpass Men. For the first time ever, women outnumbered men among people applying to U.S. medical schools for this fall--a milestone in the slow but steady increase in the number of aspiring female doctors. http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1500/12-5-2003/20031205024501_16.html

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

GOTCHA COVERED...

Thanks for the links. Still here!
Lisa

WHAT'S NEW?

December 2003 News Releases


VA Reports Performance Improvements For 2003 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is delivering high quality health care, benefits and memorial services to the nation’s veterans, according to VA’s FY 2003 Annual Performance and Accountability Report submitted today to the President and the Congress. (12/10/03)
VA Recognizes Offices with Contracting Achievement Awards - As part of an initiative to increase contracting with small businesses, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi is recognizing VA staff offices that have excelled in partnering with these companies in contract awards. (12/5/03)
USA Today Honors VA's Web Site for Kids - A new Web site by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to teach children about the contributions of veterans has been selected by the editors of USA Today as one of the top educational Web sites for the week of December 1. (12/5/03)
To view and download VA news releases, please visit the following Internet
address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

WHAT ELSE?

Important announcement

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the National Academies have produced and continue to produce reports on the health and protection of deployed military forces and veterans. These reports build on the Academies' long history of addressing scientific and medical issues related to past and current military conflicts. This site provides information about the Institute of Medicine's work in this area, including summaries and recommendations from past reports, as well as explanations of chemical and biological agents, and links to ongoing projects.

http://veterans.iom.edu/

> Deployment Health
Reports on the health and protection of deployed forces
> Gulf War Gulf War and Health reports and ongoing studies
> Vietnam War Vietnam/Agent Orange reports and ongoing studies
> Korean War Reports on military personnel that served in the Korean War
> World War II Information and resources relating to the health of U.S. veterans of the second world war.

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date.

Wish I'd been the one to suggest the website for kids. My son enjoys it. He thinks his Screaming Eagle brother in law hung the moon and just a few of the stars. Well, I do, too...

There are some very basic tenets of eligibility that do not seem to be clearly understood.
1. Veterans claiming exposure to AO do NOT have to participate in AO registry examination program. The veteran does have to have served in Vietnam. We have received reports from sites indicating that they were changing AO "yes" responses to "NO" because no registry exam was completed.....that is simply wrong.
2. AO, etc. vets are exempted from medication copay as well as medical care copay if treatment/meds for a particular episode of care are determined by their health care provder to be related to their exposure.
There are rules that apply for Ionizing Radiation and Envirnomental Contaminants as to what qualifies as exposure. If sufficient documentation is not presented by the veteran to determine if they were in the exposure location, participated in nuclear testing or whatever, we should be verifying military service information through the VA Regional Office. Please review pertinent Directives and other guidance for these specific programs as necessary.
Do not deny these veterans a higher enrollment priority assignment (Priority Group 6) or other benefits available to them based upon their legitimate claims of exposure simply because the veteran chooses not to participate in the VA Registry Program.
Korean DMZ vets as they are not currently eligible for this benefit. They can; however, request to participate in Agent Orange Registry examination program.

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

ARE WE MEETING THE ENEMY AGAIN?

Only time will tell.
Ohterwise
Here is a news release from the VA hotline dated December 15, 2003
Jonathan B. Perlin, and Kilmer S. McCully were honored at this year's Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) awards conference. Established in 1891 by an act of Congress, AMSUS is the premier medical society of federal agencies and leads the way in ontributing to the improvement of all phases of federal health care. Jonathon B. Perlin, VA's Deputy Undersecretary for Health, won the Richard A. Kern award for his lecture entitled "Prevention: Using Advanced Technologies to Improve the Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Humanity of Health Care." Similarly, Dr.McCully, Boston VA Medical Center's Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medical
Services, received the Edward Rhodes Stitt award for his lecture on hemocysteine, vitamins, and the prevention of vascular disease.
Congratulations to these two accomplished VA health leaders.

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

From the VA hotline...this is in it's 3rd year.
This report addresses the first task of developing an analytical framework for assessing risks, which would encompass the risks of adverse health effects from battle injuries, including those from chemical- and biological-warfare agents, and non-battle-related health problems such as infections, pathogen-and vector-borne diseases, exposure to intoxicants, and psychological and physical stress. The presumed spectrum of deployment ranged from peacekeeping to full-scale conflict. The recommended framework for risk assessment of threats to deployed U.S. forces is composed of three phases, which are characterized by the timeline of deployment: ongoing, deployment, and post-deployment.
Framework for Phases of Risk Assessment: Ongoing Strategic Baseline Preparation
· Reintegration of troops
· Data archiving
· Continuing health surveillance
· Population analyses of exposure effects
· Evaluation of lessons learned
Recommendations
§ Develop an explicit list of objectives, such as those described in this re-port, for efforts to protect the health and safety of deployed forces and to periodically assess progress in meeting the objectives.
§ Strive to examine and reexamine as warranted all the effects of a given hazardous agent or threat, not only the effects that were first known, including risks posed by low exposures that could eventually lead to chronic illness.
§ Continue to conduct research on methods to address different magnitudes, durations, patterns, and co-exposures that might be encountered during deployment.
§ Develop risk-assessment methods to characterize and predict effects of psychological and physical stress in potentiating or exacerbating the physical, chemical, and biological effects of hazardous agents or threats and as hazards in their own right.
§ Examine patterns of c-oexposure to various threats; because deployment is characterized by many simultaneous exposures, develop methods to assess possible effects of combinations of threats and their interactions with stress; and develop methods to identify the combinations that should receive further scrutiny based upon biological considerations, because they are peculiar to specific kinds of deployment, or because of particular DoD responsibilities.
§ Make special efforts to identify previously unrecognized hazards by examining deployment activities and settings for potential threats and by identifying scenarios that might lead to hazardous exposures.
§ As an aid to decision-making in emergencies related to particular hazardous substances, compile and make readily accessible the exposure levels and durations at which people are expected to begin to suffer progressively severe effects.
§ Conduct expert analyses before deployment to update general scenarios with case-specific details for quick application by field commanders.
§ Conduct research on developing appropriate biological markers of exposure and effect for surveillance of exposures that are of particular relevance to the deployment setting.
§ As part of the tracking of troops’ exposures and activities, DoD should consider the effectiveness of collecting and archiving biological samples, in addition to sera, from troops and environmental samples before, during (if war-ranted and feasible), and after deployment.
§ Conduct annual health evaluations of reserve and active-duty personnel to obtain baseline health information, as recommended in the companion IOM report addressing medical surveillance.
Develop an explicit framework for risk-management decision-making that would use information obtained from the application of the risk-assessment framework.

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker

KEEP IT UP.

FOR MORE HOT NEWS.

VA to Survey Gulf War Veterans' Health. The survey, called the Longitudinal Health Study of Gulf War Era Veterans, is a follow-up to one conducted in 1995-1996 on the health of 30,000 veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/PressArtInternet.cfm?id=709

English-Only Work Rules on the Rise. A lawsuit against cosmetics-giant Sephora is just one of many cases popping up across the country alleging that employers are prohibiting workers from speaking their native language on the job. http://www.hirediversity.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=14020

National Holiday Sought to Honor Native American Contributions. A call for Congress and the President to designate the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day. http://www.indiancountry.com/?1071588168

Accommodating Epilepsy. An employee who has epileptic seizures was hired three months ago. The employee takes medication for the condition. The employee had not disclosed this information at the time of hire. What are the company's legal obligations to this employee? http://www.workindex.com/legal

Thurmond's Legacy. She is a proud woman. She is Black. And she is Strom Thurmond's daughter. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8274-2003Dec17.html

MSU Scientist Promoting Arab-American Cooperation. A Montana State University scientist is proposing new cooperation between American and Arab researchers, and development of an Arab science program modeled on a U.S. approach that has helped rural states like Montana vault ahead scientifically. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3602413/

Institute of Medicine Creates Web Site for Veterans. The IOM has created a new Internet Web site with information about a variety of military-related health issues. http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/PressArtInternet.cfm?id=710

Maryland and EEOC Partner to Promote Hiring and Advancement of People With Disabilities. Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Cari Dominguez signed a resolution this week aimed at enhancing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities nationwide in state government. http://www.eeoc.gov/press/12-16-03.html

Sitting Bull College Educates and Promotes Culture. Shortly after earning a law degree, Ron His Horse is Thunder, great-great-great grandson of Sitting Bull, quit his job at a Rapid City law firm and returned home to the Standing Rock Reservation. Today he is president of Sitting Bull College. http://www.indiancountry.com/?1071692148

EEOC and the Palm Resolve Inquiry Into Recruiting and Hiring Practices. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Palm Management Corporation, which manages The Palm Restaurants, have announced the resolution of an EEOC Commissioner's Charge, ending a nationwide investigation focusing on past recruitment and hiring practices. http://www.eeoc.gov/press/12-17-03.html

Foreign-Born a Majority in Six U.S. Cities. Foreign-born people constituted the majority in six cities of 100,000 or more population in 2000 - two of them in Florida and four in California, according to an analysis of census results by the U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001623.html

Panel Delays Suggestions On Closing Down Seven VA Hospitals. A federal commission weighing whether to shut down seven Veterans Affairs hospitals is delaying its recommendations, most likely until early next year. http://www.fendonline.com/federaldaily/index.htm#18c

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker