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You’d think a U.S. senator who chairs one of the chamber’s most powerful committees could get reliable, accurate information about a federal agency’s operations. But back in February, officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs told Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Judiciary Committee that no veterans were currently waiting more than 90 days for care at Iowa’s two VA medical centers. (6/12)

Hospitals have policies protecting against workplace discrimination at the hands of colleagues or supervisors. But when a patient is racist or biased towards a physician or other health care provider, there is often no recourse. Through silence and inaction on this issue, hospitals may reinforce the isolation that clinicians of racial and religious minorities can sometimes feel in medicine. Particularly at a time when some Americans feel emboldened to speak and act in bigoted ways, clinicians need support managing patients who make derogatory and abusive remarks. (Lachelle Dawn Weeks, 6/12)

Desperate for more effective ways to confront the opioid crisis, cities and states are reining in doctors who prescribe too many opioid painkillers and suing drugmakers for downplaying how addictive their products are. But the epidemic has moved beyond prescription pills to illicit drugs, so it also makes sense to try an approach that's more aggressive -- and controversial: giving addicts a safe place to use drugs. (6/12)

There’s no mistaking Kentuckian’s heroin and opioid addiction is a public health crisis. There are not enough spots in urban detox and inpatient treatment centers. It’s worse in rural areas. One hope for addicts seeking sobriety is treatment that combines Suboxone, to help the deadly craving for heroin and opioids, and counseling. It’s called MAT – medication-assisted treatment. If taken correctly, it can save lives. (6/9)

Despite all efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the crisis continues to destroy lives and contribute to the growing gap in life expectancy by income and education in the U.S. But it appears that some relief may come from an unexpected source: virtual reality. Anyone who thinks virtual reality is just a sideshow for gamers should pay close attention to the stunning results it’s achieving in the medical world. (Peter R. Orszag, 6/13)

Over the last 48 hours, Twitter has exploded with angry commentary directed at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) after the organization actively attempted to censor what was posted on twitter during their annual sessions this past weekend in San Diego. The fiasco began when an attendee posted a picture of slides on twitter—in an attempt to “LIVE Tweet” during a session on the recommended #ADA2017 Hashtag. The @AmDiaAsso twitter feed then began to post tweets instructing individual attendees to take down specific tweets that involved photography. In fact, the ADA twitter feed at one point was dominated by their repeated requests for attendees to delete tweets. Quickly, the censorship became the focus of the hashtag—not the science. (Kevin Campbell, 6/13)

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, four million children and adolescents in the United States have serious mental disorders that cause significant functional impairments at home, at school and with peers. Despite this huge number, a 1999 report from the Surgeon General suggests that only 20 percent will receive treatment within any given year. (Nancy Rappaport and J. Wesley Boyd, 6/13)

Most people grasp, with horror, the poisoning of an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 young children in Flint, Michigan, by lead that leached into that city’s water system. But one doesn’t need to look north to find poisoned kids: An Ohio State University analysis determined that at any given time in Franklin County, about 5,500 children younger than 6 suffer from lead poisoning. (6/13)

In January, [Gov. Greg] Abbott declared child welfare reform one of four emergency items for the 85th legislative session. ... The funding and reforms were long overdue, fueling the child welfare crisis. (6/12)

It t is extremely unlikely anyone you know will ask you to donate a kidney. So don’t worry, you’re safe. Or are you? It is extremely likely that someone you know needs a new kidney, and that means someone in your life needs you to donate one. ... It seems that people, myself included, are far more willing to donate a kidney to someone they know over someone they don’t. We want the altruistic pleasure of knowing the recipient, and perhaps the pleasure of knowing that the recipient knows us. (Terry Wood, 6/13)