VETERANS -- 'RAMPANT VIOLATIONS' UNCOVERED IN HUMAN EXPERIMENT STUDIES AT ARKANSAS VETERANS HOSPITAL: The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a report today citing an Arkansas veterans hospital for "rampant violations in its human experiments program." The investigation into the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock "found that researchers had failed to report 'serious adverse events' during the experiments, including the deaths of 105 veterans." The report also found that "entire consent forms were missing, signatures were missing from consent forms, HIV testing was conducted without documented consent, and research officials failed to obtain witness signatures in a study involving patients with dementia." In one review of cancer studies, investigators "randomly sampled the files of 105 patients and could locate only 20 consent forms." The studies at the hospital "involved thousands of veterans who had volunteered for behavioral and drug experiments." The Inspector General has recommended that the VA "determine whether human subject research should continue at the hospital." This report comes just two months after a Washington Times/ABC News investigation revealed that mentally distressed veterans were recruited by the VA for tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.

I wish to state publically that I retired from a Research Center that had a few cooperative projects
with this Organization in 1995. The organization I was with met all standards up to the time of
my retirement. I have been out of the loop since then...

And y'all want socialized medicine? Get ready.

Why do you insist on repeating that the Dems health plan is "socialized medicine". It is not.

Unfortunately, you are right. Extending Medicare to everyone is the only feasible solution. The Obama plan is an expensive band-aid that will not make the over-all situation any better
because the present Health Care System is not fixable and will implode with more tinkering.

Perhaps there is hope after all. A system tech who tells it like it is. I'm encouraged.

Thank you, Sir.