June 11, 2025 11:00 a.m. 

On Tuesday, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden pressed the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its recent decision unilaterally ending a contract for the Cancer Registry Services to provide staffing and resources essential to maintain and operate the VA’s Cancer Registry database service in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Wyden said, “This database is key to spotting trends across cancer patients and allows our medical community to develop better guidelines to diagnose, treat and beat cancer.” Wyden said, “Cancelling this contract is mindless and cruel in equal measure for America’s veterans who deserve far better in return for their service to our country”. Wyden said, “The VA must use every tool at its disposal to support our veterans battling cancer, and I call on the VA to reinstate this contract immediately”.

A release said the letter followed up on concerns Wyden raised in February about the VA recklessly ending hundreds of contract notes that cancer registries help capture the complete history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status for cancer patients across the United States.