Occupational Health News Roundup

A new GAO report and testimony at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing made it clear just how far the military still has to go in preventing and responding to sexual assault. The American News Project shows wrenching testimony from Ingrid Torres, a Red Cross worker raped by a military doctor, and Mary Lauterbach, mother of Marine Maria Lauterbach, who was murdered after she had accused Cpl. Cesar Laurean of raping her - and was refused her request to be transferred. The head of the Pentagon office charged with addressing sexual assault in the military was ordered by her superiors not to testify, even though the committee subpoenaed her.

ABC News and RH Reality Check have more on the hearing and the findings of the GAO report.

In other news:

High Country News: An emergency room nurse who treated a patient who came into contact with fluid used for hydraulic fracturing (used in natural gas drilling) fell seriously ill and ended up in intensive care for 30 hours. The company that made the fracturing fluid refused to supply her intensive-care doctor with specific information about what it contained.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: A House Judiciary Subcommittee has approved a measure that would address the current nursing shortage by reserving employment-based visas for foreign-trained nurses and providing funds to increase and improve domestic nurse training.

Guardian (UK): A two-year study of temple workers in Bangladesh suggests that exposure to joss sticks, a type of incense often used in Buddhist worship, might have health risks similar to cigarette-smoke exposure (via Enviroblog).

Nieman Watchdog: Anne Hull and Dana Priest, the reporters behind the Pulitzer-winning Washington Post series on Walter Reed, explain how they investigated the story.

New York Times: A guidebook of new techniques for battlefield surgeons, using case descriptions and photos from Iraq and Afghanistan, has been published, overcoming censorship efforts.