2021 Veterans Day Q&A with U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough

Thank you for raising this issue. We are aware that this is under consideration and is a DoD primary responsibility. Under the proposal Gulf War Illness studies would still occur but in the context of a broader military exposure program. Regardless VA will continue to support Gulf War Illness research and research. Research has been on-going on at VA since the early 1990's. Currently there is a large VA project using Artificial Intelligence to help further define this illness.

Any decision by a service department acting through a board of correction of military records is final and conclusive on VA. The only exception is a change in character of discharge by a service department through a discharge review board is not final and conclusive on VA when there is a bar because the discharege was due to the sentence of a General Court Martial. (X.iv.1.B.3.d. ) Only favorable action by a board for correction of military records will overcome a bar based on a General Court Martial. This limitation is set by law, 38 CFR 3.12 and although the board can upgrade the character of discharge it does not change the reasons for the discharge which fall under the statuatory bar.

Thank you for your interest in VA Social Work graduate training opportunities and your passion for continuing to serve your fellow Veteran, families, caregivers and survivors. Training our future social workers and other health care professionals is a critical part of VA's mission. VA offers over 1,500 clinical field placements for Master in Social Work program trainees annually. Each medical center establishes local policies for their graduate training programs and the management of graduate trainee placements. These practices include establishing Affiliation Agreements with academic programs and establishing processes for trainee recruitment, application, selection and placement. Veterans enrolled in the Veteran's Readiness and Employment (VRE) program are encouraged to apply through their graduate training programs and will be considered based upon the criteria established between the VA medical center and the academic institution.

Thank you for your feedback. VA has shared these comments with local leaders in the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System. We would be happy to address specific concerns and work to resolve any additional problems if identifying information could be provided.

In the absence of any symptoms or suspicion of disease, performing medical exams such as you describe to detect a possible health problem is known as screening. Screening tests are intended to reduce the risk of future disease or to find disease early enough for effective treatment. Unfortunately, no medical test is perfect or can find all possible health problems. When screening tests are performed on people who are not at high risk for a particular disease or when the disease is very rare, the test may often cause more harm than good. For example, the patient may have to undergo multiple additional tests or procedures, all of which have their own risks, without any significant benefit to the patient.
For this reason, medical screening exams should only be performed when there is good scientific evidence that the benefits of testing outweigh the risks and costs of testing. VA strongly supports screening when there is good reason to do so, and has an entire office devoted to this effort. For example, VA makes screening ultrasound available to Veterans who have increased chance of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Similarly, VA provides screening tests for colon cancer to Veterans at risk for this disease. These are only two of the many examples where medical research shows a benefit to screening and which the VA provides to patients when appropriately indicated.
On the other hand, there is no scientific evidence that routinely performing lung X-rays or brain MRI exams on patients without symptoms or suspicion of disease has a benefit that outweighs the risks of doing these exams for large groups of patients.
VA is proud of the high-quality healthcare we provide Veterans and that our care is based on sound medical research and professional guidelines.

As an agency of the U.S. Government, VA is governed by federal laws, not state laws. VA and all VA staff, including contractors, as well as outside providers acting on VA's behalf, may only prescribe medications that have been approved by the FDA for medical use. At present, marijuana and most products containing delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), or other cannabinoids are not approved by the FDA for this purpose. For these reasons, VA providers may not prescribe or recommend medical marijuana, nor complete paperwork/forms required for Veteran patients to participate in state-approved marijuana programs. In addition, VA pharmacies may not fill prescriptions for these drugs, nor will VA pay for such prescriptions from any source. Federal law would have to be changed, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would have to approve medical marijuana before VA providers would be able to prescribe or recommend medical marijuana or complete paperwork/forms for Veteran patients to participate in state-approved marijuana programs.

Thank you for your feedback. Without additional information, we are unable to identify what the specific concern may be.

The Department of the Navy has access to other classified sources that it can review, other than deck logs, to assist VA in determining whether a submarine was in the offshore waters of Vietnam. These sources include, but are not limited to, commander’s operation reports, communication traffic, and patrol reports.