1. I don't believe that it is impossible to find equal or superior care for those sorts of injuries outside the VA.
I'd like to know where. All the major research is published by people from the VA (and they collaborate with the best people around the world). I read the studies and I really am impressed by the work of the VA.
Can J Surg. 2015 Jun;58(3):S104-7.
Cervical spine injury in dismounted improvised explosive device trauma.
Taddeo J1, Devine M2, McAlister VC3.
Author information
1The Maine Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Augusta, Maine.
2The Canadian Armed Forces Health Services, Ottawa, Ont.
3The Canadian Armed Forces Health Services, Ottawa, Ont. and the Department of Surgery, Western University, London, Ont.
PLoS One. 2015 May 11;10(5):e0126110. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126110. eCollection 2015.
Cognitive Improvement after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Measured with Functional Neuroimaging during the Acute Period.
Wylie GR1, Freeman K2, Thomas A2, Shpaner M2, OKeefe M2, Watts R2, Naylor MR2.
Author information
1Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center, Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ, United States of America; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers University Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States of America; War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Department of Veterans' Affairs, East Orange, NJ, United States of America.
2Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America.
JAMA Neurol. 2014 Dec;71(12):1490-7. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.2668.
Dementia risk after traumatic brain injury vs nonbrain trauma: the role of age and severity.
Gardner RC1, Burke JF2, Nettiksimmons J3, Kaup A4, Barnes DE5, Yaffe K6.
Author information
1Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco2Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California.
2Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor4Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management and Research, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
3Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California5Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco.
4Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California6Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.
5Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California5Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco6Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisc.
6Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco2Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California5Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2015 May;43(5):1071-88. doi: 10.1007/s10439-014-1171-9. Epub 2014 Oct 25.
Head rotational acceleration characteristics influence behavioral and diffusion tensor imaging outcomes following concussion.
Stemper BD1, Shah AS, Pintar FA, McCrea M, Kurpad SN, Glavaski-Joksimovic A, Olsen C, Budde MD.
Author information
1Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA, bstemper@mcw.edu.
2. All you're saying here is that the military budget got cut and there were consequences people didn't anticipate. I agree. What is more, why don't you think the same thing would happen if we nationalized healthcare. Government cuts spending... and boom.
These were anticipated consequences. An adequately-funded VA system is well run. Other countries do it. Are you saying that the American government is incompetent, because they couldn't fund a nationalized healthcare system like other countries? You may be right, but I hope not.
3. As to medical research, it would be more accurate to say that funding for research through the universities is appropriated through the VA budget.
No, I've met the doctors who did the studies. Most of those studies are managed by doctors who work for the VA hospital system. They're studying VA patients, the same ones they treat.