NewsBytes April 29, 2022
In this issue:
Respiratory Cancers Added to VA Disability List
Telehealth Reduces Suicide for Rural Veterans
VA Adds Respiratory Cancers linked to Burn Pits to Disability List
The Department of Veterans Affairs has published an interim final rule in the Federal Register (page 24422) adding certain rare respiratory cancers to the list of presumed service-connected disabilities caused by military environmental exposure to particulate matter. This issue was first noted in the March 4, 2022, NewsBytes. This regulation is effective immediately.
The VA determined through a review of scientific and medical evidence there is biologic plausibility between airborne hazards, and carcinogenesis of the respiratory tract, and that the unique circumstances of these rare cancers warrant a presumption of service connection. These ailments are listed in the interim final rule and the March 4, 2022, NewsBytes.
VA Telehealth Reduces Suicide for Rural Veterans
A recent study by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) finds that veterans with mental health issues were more likely to get online treatment after receiving smart devices from the VA, reducing their risk of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study of 471,791 rural veterans with a history of mental health care was published in the journal of the American Medical Association.
The report notes the U.S. suicide rate is the highest since World War II and that veterans are one-and-a-half times more likely to commit suicide than non-veterans. Rural areas are particularly at risk because of higher unemployment and lack of health care resources. Both were problems that became exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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