Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Panel rejects proposal to close, downsize VA hospitals
Gannett News Service story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "A federal commission formally rejected Friday Bush administration proposals to close the veterans hospital at Canandaigua and consolidate services at hospitals in Westchester and Dutchess counties. But the panel studying an overhaul of veterans health care nationwide also recommended that inpatient psychiatric units -- specialties at the VA's Canandaigua and Montrose hospitals -- be transferred to other facilities in their regions. Such action, however, should be delayed until the VA completes more studies on veterans' mental health needs, the commission said in a report to VA Secretary Anthony Principi..."  
  

Erasing Racial Data Erased Report's Truth
Opinion column in the Los Angeles Times by M. Gregg Bloche, who teaches law and health policy at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities - "Do black Americans receive poorer healthcare than whites? Two years ago, a National Academy of Sciences panel on which I served concluded that the answer was yes. At the behest of Congress, we had reviewed hundreds of research studies, gathered diverse views and issued a report documenting widespread racial disparity in dispensing medical care. ... But this report was never published. In its place, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a cheery rewrite touting administration successes and asserting that claims of minority groups receiving worse care than whites were unproved." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].