Free Republic

'Cancer is the best way to die, according to a former editor of The British Medical Journal. Richard Smith, who is chairman of the board of directors of medical smartphone app Patients Know Best, believes the opportunity to reflect on life before it ends is important. In an article published in The BMJ, the 62-year-old wrote that while most people tell him they would prefer a sudden death, he thinks that is very hard on the families of the deceased.'

The damning OIG report comes just weeks after VA admitted that six veteran deaths were linked to delayed cancer screenings at a VA facility in South Carolina and a report that appointment delays led to veterans being harmed in Augusta, Ga. VA, which spent more than $3.5 million on furniture on the last day of fiscal year 2013, also awarded a five-figure bonus to the executive who oversaw the Memphis facility, even as it acknowledged that problems were cropping up. “Like other hospital systems, VA isn’t immune from human error — even fatal human error. But what the department does...