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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2008;299(22):2620.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Some members of Congress are calling for the resignation of Ira Katz, MD, mental health officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Katz is under fire because of reports suggesting he was involved in efforts to cover up the number of veterans attempting suicide.

At a May 6 hearing before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, lawmakers focused on an internal VA e-mail sent by Katz. The e-mail said, "Shh!-Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?"

VA Secretary James B. Peake, MD, testified that the department hesitated to release such figures because they may not have been accurate, noting that defining suicide attempts is difficult.

But Rep Bob Filner (D, Calif), committee chairman, said in . . . [Full Text of this Article]