Now, an easier to read format allows you to get all the VA and veterans news from the past week in a flash.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... Now, every day, the Week in Review page will be your one-stop-shop for the latest VA and veterans' news for the past week.

If you find this useful ... please pass it on to other veterans and their families.

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THURSDAY -- 28 JANUARY 2010

VA AND VETERANS NEWS: WEEK IN REVIEW FOR THURSDAY 28 JANUARY 2010 -- Now, an easier to read format allows you to get all the VA and veterans news from the past week in a flash.

OBAMA'S STATE OF UNION ADDRESS LEAVES VETERANS IN LIMBO -- Veterans' spending not included in list of those exempt from proposed budget freeze.

VAOIG FINDS CARE ISSUES AT LAS VEGAS VA FACILITY -- None of the physicians hired in 2009 had gone through the review process to ensure competence.

VETERANS Q&A with JIM STRICKLAND, #8 for 2010 -- Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

AFTER 42 YEARS, VIETNAM VET MEETS LETTER WRITER -- "That's when I got a card and letter from a 9-year-old girl in Chattanooga to a soldier."

VAOIG FINDS PROBLEMS AT BRONX VA HOSPITAL -- Facility delayed implementation of VA's "copy and paste" regulation for three years.

VA HIDES CANCER TREATMENT ERRORS AT NEW JERSEY FACILITY -- Cancer patients were overradiated by a medical team that lacked experience in using a machine that generated high-powered beams of radiation.

POL BLASTS CONDITIONS AT PENNSYLVANIA VETS' NURSING HOMES -- Called the results of inspections in two state-run nursing homes for veterans "shocking, unsettling and inexcusable."

VAOIG REPORT FAULTS CARE AT TOPEKA VA FACILITY -- Problems include not cleansing and disinfecting glucometers shared between patients and much more.

WEDNESDAY -- 27 JANUARY 2010

VA AND VETERANS NEWS: WEEK IN REVIEW FOR WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2010 -- Now, an easier to read format allows you to get all the VA and veterans news from the past week in a flash.

VA TO HOLD MENTAL HEALTH FORUM JANUARY 28 & 29 -- "Improving VA's Disability Evaluation Criteria" to look at level and fairness of payments to Veterans who are service-connected for mental health disorders, including PTSD. (with VA documents)

VA DOCTOR: LOW-CARB DIET BEST AT LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE -- "Weight loss was similar but substantial in both groups we studied, but blood pressure improved more in the low-carb dieters."

GENEROUS NEW G.I. BILL BOOSTS COLLEGE ENROLLMENT -- More student veterans are flocking to Texas colleges and universities to take advantage of the benefit.

WACO VA HELPS HOMELESS VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES -- Iraq War veteran: "It's hard to show weakness and break down to say you need help."

OBAMA'S BUDGET FREEZE SHOULD NOT IMPACT VETERANS -- The freeze would limit the overall budget for agencies other than the military, veterans affairs, homeland security and certain international programs.

FOLLOW-UP: VA RESEARCHER'S PTSD BRAIN SCANNER LABELED "HYPE" -- The scan didn't pick out cases of PTSD, it just found a difference between people with PTSD and healthy people. This is not a diagnosis.

TUESDAY -- 26 JANUARY 2010

VA AND VETERANS' NEWS: WEEK IN REVIEW FOR TUESDAY 26 JANUARY 2010 -- The Week in Review is an easy way to peruse VA and veterans' news stories posted in the last week.

VETS' COMMITTEE SCHEDULES FOR WEEK OF JANUARY 25, 2010 -- The House Vets' Committee has scheduled a roundtable and the Senate Committee has one hearing.

ALARM RAISED OVER CARE AT PENNSYLVANIA VETERANS' HOMES -- Inspectors saw patients screaming, biting and kicking as four attendants held them down for bathing or treatment and found patients received improper doses of powerful psychotropic drugs.

VETERANS Q&A with JIM STRICKLAND, #7 for 2010 -- Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

WATCHDOG GROUP FILES COMPLAINTS AGAINST REP. STEVE BUYER -- Ranking Member on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs faces questions about his scholarship foundation.

VETERANS MAY SEE CUTS IN SERVICES AT ROSEBURG VA -- A shortage of providers is forcing the Roseburg, Oregon VA to contract out some of its services.

THOUSANDS OF OEF/OIF VETERANS COULD GET BENEFITS UPGRADE -- DoD has agreed to expedite a review of the records of thousands of OEF/OIF vets discharged with PTSD to determine whether they were improperly denied benefits.

MONDAY -- 25 JANUARY 2010

VA AND VETERANS' NEWS: A WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE FOR MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2010 -- A week-at-a-glance is an easy way to peruse VA and veterans' news stories posted in the last week.

VA SECRETARY SHINSEKI ASSISTS AT HOMELESS VETERAN STAND DOWN -- Secretary Shinseki, along with 600 other volunteers -- many of them VA employees -- attended the Winterhaven Homeless Veterans Stand Down.

MONTANA MODEL FOR PTSD DETECTION FACES MAJOR TEST -- "This would have been great stuff to have had on my first deployment. I wish I'd had this kind of knowledge going in the first time."

SOLDIERS PREPARE FOR EXPLOSIONS OF WAR IN SIMULATORS -- A Humvee simulator prepares soldiers for one of the most hazardous jobs in Afghanistan today -- driving.

ILLNESS AND ACCIDENTS CAUSE MOST WAR-ZONE CASUALTIES -- More than 85% of American military medical evacuations from the Middle East were not the direct result of enemy action.

FLORIDA COUNTIES PUSH FOR A SECOND VA REGIONAL OFFICE -- "Sometimes the claim dies with the veteran. The regional office has so much they have to do to verify a claim, it takes a while to do that."

POSTAL WORKER CAUGHT STEALING VETERANS' DRUGS -- A camera was placed in the worker's truck and recorded him stealing from drug deliveries intended for veterans.

OPM PROMOTES WEB SITE TO HELP VETERANS GET GOVERNMENT JOBS -- Feds Hire Vets dot Gov will help veterans, transitioning service members and family members connect with government jobs.

WEEKEND -- 23 & 24 JANUARY 2010

VETERAN'S WIDOW FINALLY WINS HER VA CLAIM -- "This case serves as a reminder of the effect the unacceptable claims backlog at the VA has on veterans and their families."

CONSERVATIVE CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUP CHALLENGES VALIDITY OF STOLEN VALOR ACT -- John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute: "You have to redraft the law to prove a particularized damage."

WHEN A VETERAN DIES, THEY MAKE SURE UNCLE SAM KEEPS HIS WORD -- They call themselves the promise keepers. "They promise to remember our service and I'm here to keep that promise."

MANY PHONY WAR HEROES GO UNPUNISHED -- He holds up his uniform as proof of the honors he's earned, including the Silver and Bronze stars for valor and bravery in combat, four Purple Hearts, and many more.

FOLLOW-UP: VA'S PLAN TO STREAMLINE BENEFITS SYSTEM CALLED "DOA" -- Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense says planned system is "Dead on Arrival."

VA SAYS MOST G.I. BILL PHONE CALLS DID NOT CONNECT -- VA officials acknowledged almost 90 percent of calls to the Muskogee, Okla., center never connected.

VA UNVEILS PLANS TO STREAMLINE DISABILITY BENEFITS SYSTEM -- VA claims new Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS) will be faster, more efficient, more transparent and paperless.

FRIDAY -- 22 JANUARY 2010

FLORIDA MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO STOLEN VALOR CHARGES -- Faces federal charges of wearing or displaying the medals, lying about how he received them and more.

PLAN TO PUT VETS' CEMETERY NEXT TO QUARRY QUESTIONED -- "We don't want to be opposed to it. We just want some questions answered. We don't want people rattled out of their caskets."

VA TO BRIEF VETS' SERVICE ORGS ON CLAIMS BACKLOG -- Knowing negative VAOIG report on Roanoke Regional Office would be coming, VA calls VSOs to briefing on claims system.

JUDGE RULES VETERANS' CLAIMS OVER CIA EXPERIMENTATION SURVIVE -- Vets say the CIA prevented roughly 7,000 human subjects from getting medical care after they were subjected to experiments on mind control, implantation of electronics and the effects of exotic drugs.

VA ISSUES LIST OF SHIPS THAT QUALIFY FOR PRESUMPTIVE AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE -- "If a Veteran's service aboard one of these ships can be confirmed ... then exposure to herbicide agents can be presumed without further development."

IN BALAD, SMOKE AND FIRE FROM THE BURN PITS -- A first-hand account from Dan Clare, an Airman who served at "Mortaritaville."

VAOIG FINDS TELEMETRY MONITORING ISSUES AT DENVER VA -- "We substantiated the allegation that there were competency and training issues with medical support assistants and registered nurses assigned to telemetry prior to the death of the first patient."

THURSDAY -- 21 JANUARY 2010

VA, DoD BEGIN REALIGNMENT OF DISABILITY RATINGS CLAIMS PROCESS -- "Once all the kinks are worked out, it's going to be great for Soldiers -- the Soldiers are truly the ones who are win-win in this case."

DoD BEGINS STUDY OF VIRTUAL REALITY TREATMENT FOR PTSD -- DoD to conduct first randomized clinical trial that uses active-duty military diagnosed with combat-related PTSD to compare Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy results to traditional "imaginal" prolonged exposure therapy.

VA BEGINS SPRING SEMESTER OUTREACH TO VETS ON NEW G.I. BILL -- Mike Walcoff: "We are making a concerted effort to reach out to everyone to provide the timely benefits that those who served our nation deserve."

VETERANS Q&A with JIM STRICKLAND, #6 for 2010 -- Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

VA RESEARCH FINDS WAY TO OBJECTIVELY IDENTIFY PTSD -- By measuring magnetic fields in the brain, VA researchers have identified biomarkers in those exhibiting PTSD.

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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS -- PRESS RELEASES