Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
VA Secretary Sought Damaging Info About Woman Who Said She Was Sexually Assaulted At VA Hospital, Complaint Alleges
The Washington Post: VA Chief Wilkie Sought To Dig Up Dirt On Woman Who Complained Of Sexual Assault, Agency Insiders Say
The Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general is reviewing a request from a top House leader to investigate allegations that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sought to dig up dirt on one of the congressman’s aides after she said she was sexually assaulted at VA’s Washington hospital. The appeal late Friday from House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) came after he received information from a senior VA official, confirmed by The Washington Post, that Wilkie worked to discredit the credibility of the aide, senior policy adviser Andrea Goldstein. (Rein, 2/8)
ProPublica: VA Secretary Looked For Dirt On A House Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault In A VA Hospital, Complaint Says
The written complaint was obtained by ProPublica. In addition, a former senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said Wilkie discussed damaging information he collected about the aide and suggested using it to discredit her. Another person said he spoke with other officials who were in those discussions, and they corroborated the former senior official’s and the written complaint’s account. The people interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared retaliation.Wilkie denied inquiring into the aide’s past. “I never would do that to a fellow officer,” he said in a statement. “It is a breach of honor.” (Arnsdorf, 2/7)
In other military and veteran health news —
The Washington Post: Navy SEAL’s Family Pushes For Recognition Of Traumatic Brain Injuries After Son’s Suicide
Throughout his 10 years of service as a decorated Navy SEAL operator and explosives breacher, Ryan Larkin was regularly exposed to high-impact blast waves. Struggling with the psychological effects of serving in four combat tours and an undiagnosed brain injury, Larkin died by suicide on a Sunday morning in 2017, dressed in a SEAL Team shirt with the medals he earned in service next to him. (Price, 2/9)
The Associated Press: Air Force Suicides Surged Last Year To Highest In 3 Decades
Suicides in the active-duty Air Force surged last year to the highest total in at least three decades, even as the other military services saw their numbers stabilize or decline, according to officials and unpublished preliminary data. The reasons for the Air Force increase are not fully understood, coming after years of effort by all of the military services to counter a problem that seems to defy solution and that parallels increases in suicide in the U.S. civilian population. (Burns, 2/8)
ABC News: HIV-Positive Airmen Fighting To Stay In The Air Force In First-Of-Its Kind Case
LGBTQ advocates are preparing to go to trial against the U.S. government over its policies on HIV-positive service members. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two young Air Force members who said they were discharged after being diagnosed with HIV in contravention with military rules that do not call for automatic dismissal due to the medical condition. This is especially true, they say, in light of treatments with commonly available medications that allow the virus to be rendered undetectable and therefore not transmittable. The service members notched a victory in January when a federal appeals court upheld an injunction that allowed the case to move forward, but Lambda Legal, one of two advocacy groups representing the men, said the battle is just beginning. (Allen, 2/10)
