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Rocker Duff McKagan Fights on for the Troops
By Chris Epting - AOL NewsSeattle native Duff McKagan, the legendary bassist who helped form Guns N' Roses in 1985 and now performs in Velvet Revolver while also fronting his own band, Loaded, recently started donating proceeds from two new songs to help U.S. soldiers. "I got inspired by my friend Tim Medvetz," McKagan told AOL News. Medvetz is the Hollywood motorcycle customizer who, after a serious accident, managed to climb Mount Everest after his rehabilitation. He was then featured on the Discovery Channel program "Everest: Beyond the Limit" and made it his mission to help returning war veterans scale summits ...
More Veterans Exposed to Infections at VA Facilities
By Mara Gay - AOL NewsMore veterans may have been exposed to serious infections such as HIV and hepatitis at VA facilities because of inadequately cleaned equipment. The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 12 more veterans who may have received colonoscopies with unsanitary equipment at a VA hospital in in Miami, officials said. In 2009, VA officials there notified 2,400 war veterans who could have been exposed while undergoing the routine procedure at the hospital since 2004, according to The Miami Herald, which first reported the additional exposures. VA spokeswoman Mary Kay Hollingsworth said in a ...
Opinion: Vets Suffer While Benefits Appeals Drag On
By not in system - AOL News(Nov. 11) -- As our nation's cacophony of controversial legal disputes -- stem cell research funding, gay marriage, "don't ask, don't tell" -- hold center stage in the media, a vitally important legal issue is overlooked entirely: whether it is constitutional for the Department of Veterans Affairs to take an average of 4 1/2 years to adjudicate hundreds of thousands of veterans disability benefits claims. Because of the severe psychological and physical trauma that service members endure, many veterans are unable to earn a living or support themselves. As a result, nearly 1 million veterans ...
Teamwork Among Surgeons a Lifesaver for Patients
By Katie Drummond - AOL News(Oct. 19) -- Teamwork and communication can save lives in the operating room, according to an extensive new study that found an 18 percent drop in patient deaths thanks to training programs emphasizing cooperation among medical colleagues. A team of researchers, led by experts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, studied surgical procedures at VA medical facilities across the country between 2006 and 2008. In particular, they zeroed in on the effect of the VA's Medical Team Training Program, which educates entire groups of surgical staffers -- including surgeons, nurse anesthetists and ...
Medical Marijuana to Be OK in Some Veterans' Clinics
By not in system - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (July 24) -- Patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics will be able to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it's legal, according to new federal guidelines. The directive from the Veterans Affairs Department in the coming week is intended to clarify current policy that says veterans can be denied pain medication if they use illegal drugs. Veterans groups have complained for years that this could bar veterans from VA benefits if they were caught using medical marijuana. The new guidance does not authorize VA doctors to begin prescribing medical marijuana, ...
Vet Group Tempers Criticism in Arlington Scandal
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (July 7) -- The nation's largest veterans group tempered its criticism of the Army over the growing mismanagement scandal at Arlington National Cemetery. "At this point The American Legion has no reason to believe that the VA, or any other entity, would do a better job at Arlington National Cemetery," said spokesman Marty Callaghan in a statement. "Mistakes were made and are being corrected. It seems appropriate to us that the military should continue to be the sentinels of our nation's honored dead until it has been clearly demonstrated otherwise." Last week, AOL News quoted ...
VA Hospital May Have Infected 1,800 Veterans, Congressman Calls for Probe
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailyMore than 1,800 veterans may have been exposed to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV because of improperly cleaned dental equipment at a Missouri Veterans Administration hospital. John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, CNN reported. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) called this week for an investigation and sent a letter to President Obama about the issue. "This is absolutely unacceptable," ...
Veterans Groups Call Obama Veterans' Health Plan 'Unconscionable'
By Mark Impomeni - Politics DailyThe head of the nation's largest veterans organization left a White House meeting with President Obama visibly angered at the Administration's plan to charge veterans for care of their service-related injuries at VA hospitals. American Legion Commander David K. Rehbein met with the president, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki yesterday to discuss the group's objections to the plan, which the Obama Administration quietly admitted is under consideration last week. Rehbein said that he and the American Legion were, "extremely disappointed and concerned," ...
Administration Considering Plan to Charge Vets for Care
By Mark Impomeni - Politics DailyThe Obama Administration confirmed that it is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for health care they receive at government-run hospitals with private insurance. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed that that plan is under consideration at a hearing on Capitol Hill yesteray. Although not a formal proposal, the idea was met with bipartisan derision from members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, who declared it "dead on arrival."The Administration included in its 2010 budget proposal an increase in "third-party collections" at VA health care centers. ...
Turnabout is Fair Play: Obama Picks Shinseki to Head Veterans Affairs
By David Knowles - Politics DailyGeneral Eric Shinseki, the first Asian American commander to attain the Army's 4-star rank, was essentially ushered into retirement for offering Congress a blunt assessment of the number of troops it would take to secure Iraq in the aftermath of a then-theoretical war. Shinseki's ouster, especially in the wake of all that went wrong in Iraq, seemed to epitomize all that was wrong with a Donald Rumsfeld-led Defense Department, and gave further ammunition to those who claimed W. was a president in a plastic bubble, not interested in hearing dissenting views. Well, president-elect Barack Obama ...
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