Physical Well-Being

Veterans living with advanced cancer will now have access to comprehensive genomic profiling. Foundation Medicine announced that it has won a nationwide contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs National Precision Oncology Program.

The contract covers all of Foundation Medicine’s tests, including FoundationOne CDx and FoundationOne Liquid for solid tumors and FoundationOne Heme for hematological malignancies.

A National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee will conduct a review of the long-term health effects of an anti-malarial drug taken by U.S. troops that has been linked to brain damage and psychiatric disorders.

The committee on Jan. 28 will launch an 18-month study of mefloquine, also known by its brand name, Lariam, and other malaria medications used by military personnel, Peace Corps volunteers and State Department employees over the past several decades.

Starting Jan. 1, Tricare will stop covering certain vitamin supplements, including some multivitamins, fluoride and iron, for roughly 25,000 beneficiaries.

Those affected received letters at the end of November from Express Scripts, the company that manages Tricare's pharmacy benefit, notifying them that only vitamins that have been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration through clinical trials are considered prescription medications and therefore eligible for coverage.

Approximately 1,300 disabled veterans were overpaid thousands of dollars under a Veterans Affairs Department education benefits program last year and now must figure out a way to pay that money back.

Why? Mostly because staff at VA regional offices didn’t check emails, a recent investigation by the VA Office of Inspector General has found.