VA HOSPITALS: Congress Requests Nationwide Research Audit

      Based on "disturbing reports of possible patients' rights abuses," at the Veterans Hospital in West Los Angeles, the General Accounting Office will conduct a broad-scale investigation of VA clinical research ethics at facilities nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports. The decision follows a request by four members of Congress to "examine the adequacy of VA's procedures related to obtaining informed consent from potential research participants, including special attention to protections afforded veterans with mental illness." The investigation, which follows the shutdown in March of all animal and human research at the West Los Angeles hospital, will include a review of hospital records from ethics committees that evaluate research projects and "interviews with key personnel." Findings are expected in February (Monmaney, 6/8).