Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
VA Report Included Clinic That Doesn't Exist. Glaring Mistake Calls Into Question Quality Of Study
A market-based report that assessed the health care needs of New Hampshire and Vermont veterans listed a community clinic that did not exist. The report chronicles all the Veterans Affairs sites in the two states and included a community-based outpatient clinic in St. Johnsbury, Vt., that the report said served nearly 7,000 veterans in 2017. This community does not now or ever has had such a clinic, according to U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H. She questioned a top Department of Veterans Affairs official about the glaring mistake during a subcommittee hearing Thursday. (Landrigran, 3/16)
For the first time since he began practicing medicine in 1992, [Kewchang] Lee is asking a small number of his patients to take a cheek swab for a genetic test analyzing their ability to metabolize commonly prescribed antidepressants. ...It is the first study in the VA health system to examine whether doctors gaining knowledge of their patients鈥� genomic composition can help shape more precise treatment plans for depression. (Ho, 3/17)