Minecraft The Islands of Junara episode 10: Enchanten maar!
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China expands islands on disputed reefs in South China Sea
New satellite images show China has rapidly expanded several artificial islands it is building atop disputed reefs in the South China Sea, raising fresh concerns across the region and in Washington about Beijing's intentions.
Dredging and sand reclamation over the last year at Hughes Reef, a shoal in the Spratly Islands, which are claimed by five nations, has created a 90,000-square-yard island with two piers, a helicopter pad and what appears to be an anti-aircraft tower or radar facility, according to HIS Janes, a defense research company.
A satellite photo taken in March showed only a small concrete platform jutting above the reef at high tide. Another photo of the same area, taken in late January, shows an inhabited island bustling with construction projects.
As The Times reported on Jan. 28, U.S. officials worry that the buildup indicates a Chinese push to establish de facto control over resource-rich waters and islets also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam. Washington has urged China and the five other nations to resolve the territorial dispute peacefully.
Artificial islands also have grown substantially over the last year at Gaven Reef, South Johnson reef and Fiery Cross Reef, other outcroppings in the Spratly Islands occupied by China, according to Janes and a new report by a policy group that follows Asia maritime issues
At Fiery Cross Reef, Chinese dredgers created a land mass that spans the entire existing reef and is approximately 3,000 meters long and 200-300 meters wide, according to a Feb. 18report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
Several other countries have built small military outposts on parts of the Spratly Islands, but they are dwarfed by the Chinese construction.
Taiwan has stepped up construction at Itu Aba, the only island it occupies in the South China Sea.
Taiwan is expanding the port to accommodate frigates and coast guard cutters and improving a 1,200 meter runway that is mostly used by C-130 cargo planes, the report said.
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Lissa Flemming, of Bayfield, Wis., explores an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523612
A person explores an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield, Wis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523916
Bayfield, WI For the third time this winter ice has formed along the Apostle Islands mainland ice caves. This time it has formed with enough thickness and extent to allow viewing of the ice caves along the mainland unit of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. If conditions remain as they are or improve, the Ice Caves will open on Saturday, February 28th. ORG XMIT: MIN1502251736234211
Andy Wegner, @blitzcycleworks Edward Mitchell, front, of Detroit, and James Kuhn, of Seattle, explore an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield, Wis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523917
Andy Wegner, @blitzcycleworks Edward Mitchell, front, of Detroit, and James Kuhn, of Seattle, explore an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield, Wis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523917
Andy Wegner, @blitzcycleworks Edward Mitchell, front, of Detroit, and James Kuhn, of Seattle, explore an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield, Wis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523917
Andy Wegner, @blitzcycleworks Edward Mitchell, front, of Detroit, and James Kuhn, of Seattle, explore an ice cave at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, near Bayfield, Wis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) ORG XMIT: MIN2015022715523917
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Cayman Officials End Sea Search For US Comic Book Artist
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CBS/AP) Authorities in the Cayman Islands have ended a search for a U.S. comic book artist who went missing while snorkeling with his wife during a vacation.
A Saturday evening police statement says authorities in the British Caribbean territory have ended their active search for Norman Lee of Weymouth, Massachusetts.
The 47-year-old artists wife returned to shore last week after they separated while snorkeling about 250 yards (about 230 meters) off Grand Cayman. Boats, divers and a helicopter crew searched for Lee. But no sign of him turned up.
Chief Inspector Brad Ebanks says the currents were strong in the area and it was unlikely that we will make any recovery at this stage.
Family members say his wife thought he had returned to shore when she could no longer see him. Rick Connolly with Royal Cayman Islands Police says the current is particularly strong in the area.
There is a current out there which is taking us quite a way out to sea, said Connolly.
Local reporter Joe Avery with Grand Cayman 27 says he was last seen at the channel markers that separate the outer waters from the inner waters.
The inner waters are quite calm because the reef adds protection, said Avery.
It isnt uncommon for snorkelers to encounter trouble in the water.
Lee had worked for Marvel and DC Comics on titles including Avengers, X-Men and Supergirl.
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ASHG and ReachMD launch educational series on genetics and genomics
'Genetically Speaking' series showcases research findings, technological advances, and applications of human genetics in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of health conditions
BETHESDA, MD and Fort Washington, PA - The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) and ReachMD announced today the launch of 'Genetically Speaking', a series of audio interviews designed to educate healthcare professionals on the application of human genetics in disease prevention and management.
The series features peer-to-peer interviews conducted during the ASHG 2014 Annual Meeting and includes topics such as:
"One of our primary goals at ASHG is to develop a healthcare workforce that is genetics-literate and capable of interpreting and applying information in clinical practice," said Joseph D. McInerney, MA, MS, Executive Vice President of ASHG. "We are excited to team up with ReachMD to produce and deliver peer-to-peer programming to healthcare professionals nationwide."
'Genetically Speaking' is co-produced by ASHG and ReachMD and broadcast on ReachMD's integrated online, mobile, and on air content distribution network. Content is accessible both on demand and through 24/7 radio streaming on ReachMD, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and iTunes digital platforms.
"This series is an excellent addition to the ReachMD lineup," said Matt Birnholz, MD, Vice President and Medical Director of ReachMD. "Our users love cutting-edge programming, and the scientific and medical experts on this series really showcase the latest research and the applications of genetics in disease prevention and management."
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Link to 'Genetically Speaking': https://reachmd.com/programs/genetically-speaking/
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
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ASHG and ReachMD launch educational series on genetics and genomics
Our Taste for Alcohol Goes Back Millions of Years
Genetics research sheds light on a long human relationship
A poison we adapted to tolerate
Credit: Thinkstock
Alcohol has been part of human existence for millennia. Alcoholic beverages are an integral part of human culture. Like the wines consumed in Jewish and Christian rituals, these drinks have ceremonial and religious uses. Until the nineteenth century, beer, brandy, rum or grog was the drink of choice for sailors in lieu of stagnant water during long voyages. Alcohol is a social lubricant, an anesthetic and an antiseptic. It is one of the most widely used drugs in the world and has been manufactured since the advent of agriculture nearly 9000 years ago. How is it that this drug an intoxicating poison has become such a part of human existence?
A new study finds that our forebears acquired the capacity to digest alcohol some 10 million years ago, among a common ancestor to humans, chimpanzees and gorillas, and certainly well before we learned to manufacture it. This suggests that alcohol became part of the human diet much earlier than previously thought, and in a manner that had significant implications for the survival of the human species.
Humans carry with them genetic signatures of their ancestral feeding habits. Genetic variants that make new food sources available can provide tremendous opportunities to those who possess them. The ability to consume milk, for example, is due to the lactase persistence variant of a gene which emerged around 7500 years ago among early Europeans. For those lacking the mutation, the lactose in milk is a mild poison, eliciting symptoms akin to those of dysentery. Similarly, the ability to digest alcohol may be a genetic signature of feeding pattern among human ancestors: this alcohol tolerance may have made it possible to eat over-ripe fruit that had fallen to the ground and begun to naturally ferment. Since few animals can tolerate alcohol, this would have provided our ancestors with an abundant food source for which there were few competitors. It may also have contributed to the move towards a terrestrial rather than arboreal existence.
The breakdown of alcohol after ingestion is a complex process that involves a number of different enzymes. Most of the alcohol that is ingested is broken down in the gut and liver. This study focused on the enzyme ADH4 because it is abundant in the gut and plays a major role in preventing ingested alcohol from entering the blood stream. ADH4 from human relatives as distant as the tree shrew were tested for their ability to digest alcohol. The form of ADH4 found in humans, gorillas and chimpanzees was found to be 40 fold more efficient at clearing alcohol than the form found in more primitive species. ADH4 also digests chemicals that plants produce in order to deter animals from feeding upon them. However, with the increase in ability to digest alcohol came a reduced ability to digest many of these other chemicals. This suggests that the food containing alcohol was more important.
While ADH4 is among the most important enzymes for the digestion of alcohol, it is not the only one. Another related enzyme, ADH3, also contributes to the breakdown of alcohol. Women typically have lower activity levels of this enzyme, leading them to have higher blood levels of alcohol then men after taking a high dose of alcohol. And ADH4 is not the only enzyme that may have helped humans adapt to the consumption of alcohol: a variant of a liver enzyme (ADH1B) with high activity in the breakdown of alcohol emerged among East Asian populations during the advent of rice cultivation, perhaps as an adaptation to rice fermentation. (Interestingly, other animals have adopted their own strategies: Using a different enzyme, a member of the tree shrew family is able to consume fermented nectar from palm tree flowers the equivalent of 10 -12 glasses of wine every day without obvious signs of intoxication.)
Because humans rely upon ADH4 as their primary means to digest alcohol, they are also susceptible to hangovers. ADH4 and similar enzymes digest alcohol by converting it into another chemical, acetaldehyde, which causes the skin flushing, headache and other symptoms of overindulgence. The modern consumption of alcohol has been characterized as an "evolutionary hangover," an adaptation to modest levels of alcohol in food sources which left humans prone to alcohol abuse once we learned how to manufacture it in highly concentrated forms. And, in fact, genetic variants of ADH4 have been linked to alcohol and drug dependence, although there are many other genes that may influence susceptibility to alcohol dependency. Regardless of the role ADH4 plays in alcohol addiction, its clear that our complex relationship with alcohol dates back millions of year, and began, in fact, before we were even human.
Robert Martone is a researcher working on neuro-oncology biomarker discovery and development. He lives and works in Memphis TN.
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"Big Brain" Gene Allowed for Evolutionary Expansion of Human Neocortex
The newly identified gene is found in modern-day humans, Neandertals and Denisovans, but not in chimps
New research suggests that a single gene may be responsible for the large number of neurons found uniquely in the human brain. When this gene was inserted in the brain of a mouse embryo (shown here), it induced the formation of many more neurons (stained red). The extra neurons led to the formation of characteristic convolutions that the human brain uses to pack so much brain tissue into a small space (convolutions shown on the right). Credit: Marta Florio and Wieland B. Huttner, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
A single gene may have paved the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of brain cells found in a key brain region.
This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees.
By allowing the brain region called the neocortex to contain many more neurons, the tiny snippet of DNA may have laid the foundation for the human brain's massive expansion.
"It is so cool that one tiny gene alone may suffice to affect the phenotype of the stem cells, which contributed the most to the expansion of the neocortex," said study lead author Marta Florio, a doctoral candidate in molecular and cellular biology and genetics at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Still, it's likely this gene is just one of many genetic changes that make human cognition special, Florio said.
An expanding brain
The evolution from primitive apes to humans with complex language and culture has taken millions of years. Some 3.8 million ago, Australopithecus afarensis, the species typified by the iconic early human ancestor fossil Lucy, had a brain that was less than 30 cubic inches (500 cubic centimeters) in volume, or about a third the size of the modern human brain. By about 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus was equipped with a brain that was roughly twice as big as that of Australopithecus. H. erectus also showed evidence of tool and fire use and more complex social groups.
Once anatomically modern humans, and their lost cousins the Neanderthals and Denisovans, arrived on the scene, the brain had expanded to roughly 85 cubic inches (1.4 liters) in volume. Most of this growth occurred in a brain region called the neocortex.
"The neocortex is so interesting because that's the seat of cognitive abilities, which, in a way, make us human like language and logical thinking," Florio told Live Science.
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"Big Brain" Gene Allowed for Evolutionary Expansion of Human Neocortex
Yale researchers map 'switches' that shaped the evolution of the human brain
Thousands of genetic "dimmer" switches, regions of DNA known as regulatory elements, were turned up high during human evolution in the developing cerebral cortex, according to new research from the Yale School of Medicine.
Unlike in rhesus monkeys and mice, these switches show increased activity in humans, where they may drive the expression of genes in the cerebral cortex, the region of the brain that is involved in conscious thought and language. This difference may explain why the structure and function of that part of the brain is so unique in humans compared to other mammals.
The research, led by James P. Noonan, Steven K. Reilly, and Jun Yin, is published March 6 in the journal Science.
In addition to creating a rich and detailed catalogue of human-specific changes in gene regulation, Noonan and his colleagues pinpointed several biological processes potentially guided by these regulatory elements that are crucial to human brain development.
"Building a more complex cortex likely involves several things: making more cells, modifying the functions of cortical areas, and changing the connections neurons make with each other. And the regulatory changes we found in humans are associated with those processes," said Noonan, associate professor of genetics, an investigator with the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, and senior author of the study. "This likely involves evolutionary modifications to cellular proliferation, cortical patterning, and other developmental processes that are generally well conserved across many species."
Scientists have become adept at comparing the genomes of different species to identify the DNA sequence changes that underlie those differences. But many human genes are very similar to those of other primates, which suggests that changes in the way genes are regulated -- in addition to changes in the genes themselves -- is what sets human biology apart.
Up to this point, however, it has been very challenging to measure those changes and figure out their impact, especially in the developing brain. The Yale researchers took advantage of new experimental and computational tools to identify active regulatory elements -- those DNA sequences that switch genes on or off at specific times and in specific cell types -- directly in the human cortex and to study their biological effects.
First, Noonan and his colleagues mapped active regulatory elements in the human genome during the first 12 weeks of cortical development by searching for specific biochemical, or "epigenetic" modifications. They did the same in the developing brains of rhesus monkeys and mice, then compared the three maps to identify those elements that showed greater activity in the developing human brain. They found several thousand regulatory elements that showed increased activity in human.
Next, they wanted to know the biological impact of those regulatory changes. The team turned to BrainSpan, a freely available digital atlas of gene expression in the brain throughout the human lifespan. (BrainSpan was led by Kavli Institute member Nenad Sestan at Yale, with contributions from Noonan and Pasko Rakic, a co-author on this study.) They used those data to identify groups of genes that showed coordinated expression in the cerebral cortex. They then overlaid the regulatory changes they had found with these groups of genes and identified several biological processes associated with a surprisingly high number of regulatory changes in humans.
"While we often think of the human brain as a highly innovative structure, it's been surprising that so many of these regulatory elements seem to play a role in ancient processes important for building the cortex in all mammals, said first author Steven Reilly. "However, this is often a hallmark of evolution, tinkering with the tools available to produce new features and functions."
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Yale researchers map 'switches' that shaped the evolution of the human brain
Obamacares new Supreme Court battle – Video
Obamacares new Supreme Court battle
The Affordable Care Act is facing another challenge at the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell, which deals with subsidies for health insurance. The case could cut out a major provision of Obamacare,...
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Genetics and disease – Video
Genetics and disease
Presentation on some basic ideas in genetics and how these can effect our role in health care.Ultimately, all aspects of anatomy and physiology depend on, and derive from our genes. It is the...
By: Dr. John Campbell
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Stokes Co. makes health care improvements – Video
Stokes Co. makes health care improvements
A Triad county is moving up on the list of the healthiest counties in North Carolina. WXII #39;s David Jeannot has the details. Subscribe to WXII on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1mVq5um...
By: WXII 12 News
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5 Tips to Cure Your Lower Back Pain – Yoga for Back Pain – BeActive – BEXLIFE – Video
5 Tips to Cure Your Lower Back Pain - Yoga for Back Pain - BeActive - BEXLIFE
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5 Tips to Cure Your Lower Back Pain - Yoga for Back Pain - BeActive - BEXLIFE - Video
Platt Tech Ribbon Cutting Ceremony – Video
Platt Tech Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Optimus Health Care Inc. SBHC Platt Technical High School Ribbon Cutting Opening Ceremony Wednesday, March 4, 2015.
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Las Vegas HEALS March 2015 Medical Mixer at Parkway Surgical Center – Video
Las Vegas HEALS March 2015 Medical Mixer at Parkway Surgical Center
Become a member: http://www.lasvegasheals.org/join Thank you to all those who attended Las Vegas HEALS March 2015 Medical Mixer. This month #39;s mixer was hosted at an on site surgical center,...
By: Las Vegas Heals
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Las Vegas HEALS March 2015 Medical Mixer at Parkway Surgical Center - Video
Health care for veterans goes high tech
When Barbara Van Dahlen was brainstorming ways to address veterans mental-health needs 10 years ago, she was inspired by Craigslist and the way the site made it easy for buyers to find sellers.
I thought I should be able to use technology to connect mental-health professionals all over the country with veterans and their families, said Van Dahlen, a licensed clinical psychologist and president of nonprofit group Give an Hour. The organization gives troops and their families access to free mental-health services through video sessions with a network of volunteers.
Give an Hour was founded in 2005 when few had heard of telehealth and the iPhone did not exist yet.
Fast forward to 2015: The charity now teams up regularly with technology firms to help veterans. It has worked with the likes of Google to reach more veterans through a series of video chats. It paired with Booz Allen Hamilton to analyze program data to better deliver services. And it is exploring a partnership with Doctor on Demand, an app that gives users 15-minute appointments with doctors, virtually.
Technology is critical in overcoming the stigma around mental-health issues, said Van Dahlen, who launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the topic in Washington last week.
Technology allows people from the privacy of their own computer screen to say, I dont know if Im depressed, but Id like to find out more, she said.
In 2013, Give an Hour partnered with Googles veteran network group on an experiment called Google Helpouts that lets ordinary people connect with subject-matter experts using the video-chat platform Google Hangouts. Experts were available on a range of topics from health to cooking to home repair, some for free and others for a fee.
The partnership brought Give an Hours model to a vast network of Google users, Van Dahlen said, but Google said in a blog post that it would end Helpouts on April 20, because it hasnt grown at the pace we had expected.
Give an Hours technology initiatives come as the Department of Veterans Affairs ramps up its own efforts to integrate technology in its health-care system.
For example, VAs Connected Health program seeks to give veterans better access to medical care through smartphones, tablets and other mobile technology.
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GAO: Vets' health care costs a 'high risk' for taxpayers
Published February 11, 2015
Feb. 11, 2015: Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Veterans' health care is a "high risk" budget issue that threatens to cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars unless longstanding problems are addressed, government auditors warned Wednesday.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said health care costs at the Department of Veterans Affairs have nearly tripled since 2002 -- to more than $59 billion a year -- as a result of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the aging of Vietnam-era veterans.
Costs are likely to continue to rise as the VA responds to "serious and longstanding problems with veterans' access to care," the GAO said.
The report praised a new law overhauling the VA in the wake of a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking care. But it said officials must ensure that veterans obtain needed care, whether from the VA or from outside providers authorized under the 2014 law.
"While timely and cost-effective access to needed health care services is essential, it also is imperative that VA ensures the quality and safety of the services it provides," the report said.
The GAO report, issued every other year, identified 32 "high risk" areas that could cause significant budget problems due to waste, fraud, mismanagement or structural flaws. The list includes Medicare and Medicaid, as well as a host of Pentagon and nuclear security programs and the national flood insurance program, among others.
In 2013, the GAO added climate change to the high-risk list.
The GAO report is the latest in a series of reports and investigations highlighting problems at the VA, which has been under intense scrutiny since a whistleblower reported last year that dozens of veterans died while awaiting treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital, and that appointment records were manipulated to hide the delays.
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Health care issues still a hot topic in the legislature
Note: This is the entire story; the overflow fromthefront page is missing in our printed edition.
Medicaid expansion is dead, but that doesnt mean looking out for the uninsured in Wyoming and the hospitals that serve them isnt foremost in the minds of legislators.
Representative Elaine Harvey
The week began in the House of Representatives with the second reading of the supplemental budget and numerous amendments. With the deadline past for introducing new bills, representatives are adding amendments to the budget as a last resort.
Everyone is kind of scrambling, trying to do things through the budget, explained Rep. Elaine Harvey of Lovell. People are trying to correct things through the budget.
We are looking at other ways to deal with health care costs. One of them is Senator Petersons bill that deals with the hospital end of things, but I also have an amendment in the works that could also provide some relief.
Harvey said she is submitting an amendment for consideration on the third reading of the budget, which is expected to take place on Thursday. The amendment would offer reimbursement to hospitals for uncompensated care. The amendment takes $4 million from an $8 million building project at the University of Wyoming. The $4 million would be funneled to community health centers and rural health clinics, compensating them for some of the uncompensated care they provide to the uninsured.
Community health centers operate in underserved areas and serve the needs of a wide variety of clients from the indigent to the fully insured. She said these clinics typically provide a wide array of services, even dental care in some cases, and are typically bigger and more comprehensive in services than rural health clinics.
In contrast, rural health clinics, such as North Big Horn Hospital, are typically located in smaller communities, offering limited services. They are spread throughout the state, which allows people in adjacent communities to drive a reasonable distance to the clinic for care.
Both types of clinics offer services on a sliding fee scale. The proposed amendment would allocate funds to reimburse the clinics for a portion of the uncompensated care they provide through the sliding scale method of billing. Harvey said the amendment would allow the clinics to bill the State Dept. of Health for reimbursement for uncompensated care. It differs from Medicaid expansion in that the money comes from the state instead of the federal government.
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Health care options expanding in east and south Hillsborough
BRANDON As construction crews hammer away on new houses in Hillsborough Countys fastest-growing area, those moving in are going to need more than a few restaurants and service stations. Theyll need health services.
An $11 million medical office building going up at Kings Avenue and Oakfield Drive in Brandon, anchored by Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, is one of several recent projects in eastern and southern Hillsborough County related to the medical fields. The new construction is directly tied to the expanding customer base.
Brandon Regional Hospital is adding on and BayCare Health System just built a new hospital in Riverview that opened at the beginning of the year. A new partnership between Tampa General Hospital and Florida Hospital called West Florida Health plans to begin construction on a Falkenburg Road clinic later this year.
The new 38,400 square-foot Brandon Medical Pavilion is scheduled to open as soon as November and the developer is still seeking tenants for its second floor.
The 3.27-acre plot the former site of Lifestyles Fitness is just blocks from Brandon Regional Hospital.
We work with health care providers and this is an area a lot of groups are interested in, with so much growth in Brandon and to the south. But it doesnt have a lot of high quality medical office space, said Andrew Boggini, principal for developer Optimal Outcomes LLC.
Weve maximized the site, putting every bit of square footage in that we could and there will be more than adequate parking, something that some other medical offices in Brandon lack, he said.
Boggini said there are no county or state economic incentives tied to the project, but it is expected to result in at least a handful of new permanent jobs for the area.
Florida Cancer Specialists plans to hire eight new employees, in addition to a radiation oncologist, said Brad Prechtl, CEO of the 31-year-old Florida-based company.
Prechtls company, which has 90 locations throughout Florida, has been in Brandon for a decade already, but has outgrown its space on Parsons Avenue. At the new building, it will occupy all of the first floor and will continue to offer traditional oncology treatment, hematology services and research and will add radiation therapy.
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Health care options expanding in east and south Hillsborough
VA doesn't release 140 vet health care probe findings
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) The Department of Veterans Affairs' chief watchdog has not publicly released the findings of 140 health care investigations since 2006, potentially leaving dangerous problems to fester without proper oversight, a USA TODAY analysis of VA documents found.
It is impossible to know how many of the investigations uncovered serious problems without seeing the reports, but all concerned VA medical care provided to veterans or complaints of clinical misconduct.
The VA inspector general declined to provide the reports, say what's in them or why the contents were kept from the public.
"We have not analyzed these reports and therefore cannot offer a specific description of the kinds of reasons," spokeswoman Catherine Gromek said.
She advised requesting the reports under the Freedom of Information Act. USA TODAY submitted a request in January for 23 reports. Joanne Moffett, a special assistant to the inspector general, said Friday officials are "working diligently" to fulfill the request.
Moffett said in general, reports may not be released if allegations are unsubstantiated and disclosing them could damage someone's reputation, when there is a pending lawsuit or when subjects of investigations are no longer working at the VA.
Officials from the inspector general's office did review 26 reports withheld from the public since January 2014 and found less than half -- 46% -- involved unsubstantiated allegations. They said in 42% of the cases, inspectors determined VA officials had already addressed their concerns so a public report was unnecessary. One was the subject of a pending lawsuit.
That's not good enough for Marv Simcakoski, whose son, Jason, a 35-year-old Marine veteran, died of an overdose five months after a report that raised "serious concerns" about "unusually high" opiate-prescription rates at the VA medical center in Tomah, Wis., was completed but kept secret from the public.
He believes there's a "good possibility" his son might be alive if the report had been released. Jason died as an inpatient days after doctors agreed to add another opiate to the 14 medications he was prescribed.
"When something is kept secret, it makes me wonder what else are they hiding?" he said. "If something doesn't get done, there could be other veterans that end up losing their lives."
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Congressional auditors: VA health care is high-risk
The Department of Veterans Affairs' vast health network beset by a scandal last year over delayed care has been listed as a high-risk federal program by congressional auditors for the first time.
The report by the watchdog Government Accountability Office, which is issued every two years, includes a broad indictment of the $55.5 billion VA program, one of the nation's largest health care systems. USA TODAY obtained the VA section of the report, scheduled for release Wednesday.
The number of aging or disabled veterans treated by the VA has grown to 8.9 million from 6.8 million in 2002, and Congress has increased funding by 85% during that time.
Yet problems with poor health care, delayed doctor appointments and leadership accountability and oversight persist, according to the report. The GAO said it keeps issuing audits identifying problems eight just last year but more than 100 areas of mismanagement remain unresolved, according to the report.
VA spokesman James Hutton, in a response, said the department is committed to becoming a "model agency" and example for other government programs to emulate.
"In many ways, (the VA health care system) is on the cutting edge of the industry. In other areas, we realize we need to make significant improvements," Hutton said.
Federal agencies or programs are chosen for the high-risk list by the GAO based on such factors as health or safety, delivery of services and incidents of injury or loss of life.
"These risks to the timeliness, cost-effectiveness, quality and safety of veterans' health care, along with persistent weaknesses we have identified in recent years, raises serious concerns about VA's management and oversight of its health care system," the report said. "VA health care is a high-risk area."
The VA became enveloped in scandal last year over allegations that veterans had died waiting for care at a hospital in Phoenix.
The agency's Inspector General office, which launched a probe into the allegations, found that delays contributed to the deaths of VA patients. However, inspectors concluded that delays may have contributed to the deaths of some veterans and that the falsifying of appointment records by VA staffers to hide delays is a systemic problem within the VA health care system.
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