Military Medical System

My friend forwarded me the following fictitious story about a struggle with laser printers in the Air Force medical clinic. I'm sure it can't be true!

I was stationed at an Air Force Base for 4 years. I had a computer and a printer in my office. The printer was non-networked and plugged directly in the back of the computer.

The first year everything went fine with that arrangement. Then the toner ran out. No money for toner I was told, you have to wait until the first of the next fiscal year. As it turns out I waited for toner for over a year, walking down the hall to collect printer documents. Great exercise, walking up and down the hallway 5-10 minutes per hour. All the time the Air Force is asking, "why aren't Air Force providers more efficient?"

Army dentist Capt. Tina Mahuika's struggle to resign from military service is featured in a recent Stripes article. Apparently Mahuika took a 3-year HPSP scholarship for dental school graduating in 2005. Her 3-year payback was fulfilled in 2008 but she has been unable to leave active duty due to a lost request for release and a stop loss order:

Step Therapy / Prior Authorization Criteria for Ambien CR (zolpidem extended release), Lunesta (eszopiclone), Rozerem (ramelteon), and Sonata (zaleplon)

TRICARE will NOT cover Ambien CR, Lunesta, Rozerem, or Sonata for new patients—defined as patients who have not filled at least one prescription for a newer sedative hypnotic in the previous 180 days at any DoD Pharmacy point of service—UNLESS the patient meets one of the following criteria:

1. The patient has tried zolpidem IR (Ambien) and had an inadequate response.

2. The patient has tried zolpidem IR (Ambien) and was unable to tolerate it due to adverse effects.

3. Treatment with zolpidem IR (Ambien) is contraindicated for this patient.

The Army Surgeon General was reported in a recent Stars and Stripes article by Tom Philbot as saying AHLTA is a significant contributing factor to attrition of military medicine personnel. The Deputy Surgeons General from the Navy and Air Force were also described as having similar remarks. Efforts by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Dr. Ward Cascells to fix the problems are also detailed.

Stripes is reporting that the DoD has rejected the idea that troops suffering from PTSD should be eligible for a Purple Heart. Here are a couple good quotes from the story: