VA Plans Massive Expansion of Cancer Treatment Options

The Department of Veterans Affairs could turn its entire medical system into a nationwide center for excellence for cancer treatment in the next few months. That’s the upshot of VA’s role within the White House’s “moonshot” to eliminate cancer, a $1 billion attempt to bring about a decade’s worth of medical advances in half that time. While other agencies will focus on research and clinical trials, VA doctors will be putting those advances to work as soon as this fall, in hopes of saving more veterans’ lives. “We’re essentially taking expertise that exists in our high-end centers and making sure that it is available in even our most rural centers,” said Dr. David Shulkin, VA’s undersecretary for health. “It’s going to result in different treatment options and better decisions, and making sure every veteran is getting world-class cancer care.” Read more