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After years of battling the Veterans Affairs Department for health care and compensation for illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure from aircraft flown after the Vietnam War, a group of up to 2,100 Air Force personnel and reservists finally will receive service-connected benefits.

..... nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 17 districts, resulting in charges against 243 individuals, including 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $712 million in false billings....More than 44 of the defendants arrested are charged with fraud related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program known as Part D,...

Nationally, drug overdose deaths have more than doubled in the past 14 years – resulting in 44,000 deaths per year, and half of those deaths (22,000) are related to prescription drugs. Nevada ranked fourth highest for drug overdose deaths – at a rate of 21.6 per 100,000 people.

…. program funded by Wounded Warrior Project aspires to improve mental health services and care for veterans in the private sector. The charity is using $70 million to fund an effort that will create outpatient programs at four of the nation's top academic medical facilities, aimed at helping sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

The FDA implements REMS as a risk management plan for certain prescription drugs. Under Section 505-1 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the FDA can approve — and patients can access — certain drugs whose risks would otherwise outweigh their benefits.

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday once again invalidated a patent held by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on its top-selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, clearing the way for the launch of a cheaper, generic version.

Deaths by drug overdose have been on the rise in the United States, with a majority of states recording increases from 2009 to 2013, according to a study …..Nevada ranked fourth highest with a rate of 21.6 per 100,000 people.

...... in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, took action this week against more than 1,050 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved prescription medicines and medical devices to consumers. These actions include the issuance of regulatory warnings to the operators of offending websites and seizure of illegal medicines and medical devices worldwide.

….. federal officials have given the U.S. departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs flak for failing to make their electronic health record systems interoperable. The decibel level of such complaints rose astronomically following a February 2013 decision to abandon development of a joint EHR, and has grown deafening in recent months as the push for interoperability of all health records systems continues to gain steam throughout the halls of Congress.