The Department of Veterans Affairs announced in late June that VA hospitals will get $26 million worth of new endoscopy sterilization equipment. The equipment is going to be released “immediately,” according to news reports. The money can also go toward implementing stricter endoscopy cleaning guidelines.

This is a good start, and is evidence that VA officials take seriously last year’s endoscopy fiasco (in which about 10,000 veterans were put at risk of getting contagious diseases from improperly cleaned scopes). Will it be enough? Should anything else happen immediately? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Colonoscopies aren’t always accurate, but they detect colon cancer a heck of a lot better than say, sitting on the couch wondering, “Do I have colon cancer?” Colonoscopies give us most of the answers we need regarding colon cancer detection, but is there a better, more comfortable way that requires less preparation?

There just might be, according to a group of researchers at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The researchers report in the latest Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JCNI) that a potential biomarker for colorectal cancer from cells contained in stool samples may be able to detect colon cancer.

The study is called “N-Myc Downstream-Regulated Gene 4 (NDRG4): A Candidate Tumor Suppressor Gene and Potential Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer” and compared stool samples from people who have colon cancer, to people who do not have colon cancer. The researchers found that each group had a significant difference in the gene called NDRG4.

The researchers are concluding that high levels of NDRG4 methylation may be an indicator of colon cancer. Representatives of the National Cancer Institute said that more research needs to be done. In the mean time, people will have to keep chugging their bowel-prep liquids, but at least there's hope for the future ...

On Tuesday, a congressional subcommittee hosted a hearing to learn more about the Veterans Affairs (VA) scandal that broke early this year in which more than 10,000 veterans are at risk of contagious disease because of improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment at three Southern VA medial facilities.

But the lawmakers weren’t just there to listen, they were also there to scold, particularly because many VA facilities failed inspections even after the scandal broke. 

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki issued a statement after the hearing, saying it is "unacceptable that any of our veterans may have been exposed to harm as a result of an endoscopic procedure."

He said he will discipline staff and will require facility directors to verify in writing that they are meeting all guidelines.

John Daigh, the VA's assistant inspector general, led the surprise review and said the findings "troubled me greatly." He added that there may be systemic issues.

According to the Associated Press, a report of findings regarding the scandal shows that at a Miami center, for instance, staff members were for almost five years unaware that they should have been sterilizing an irrigation part of an endoscope.

The tongue lashing some VA leaders received at the hearing should somewhat satisfy the many people who are disturbed by the inept actions taken at some VA clinics. But, does it? Satisfaction usually comes when justice is served, and here, there seems to be little justice. The veterans who have undergone stress and trauma from this situation don’t get any justice, and there is certainly no closure, partly because there are so many questions left unanswered. Was the sub-par sterilization of equipment more the fault of VA policy leaders, managers, or technicians? Do they all share the blame? Even after the hearing, there seem to be more questions than answers.

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