The Los Angeles Times (4/8, Murphy) reported that “in a small but growing number of cases across the nation, lawyers are blaming the US military’s heavy use of psychotropic drugs for their clients’ aberrant behavior and related health problems.” According to the Times, “more than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs. … Nearly 8% of the active-duty Army is now on sedatives and more than 6% is on antidepressants — an eightfold increase since 2005.”
VA Part Of Effort To Reduce Painkiller Usage. On its front page, the New York Times (4/9, A1, Meier, Subscription Publication) reports, “Data suggests that hundreds of thousands of patients nationwide may be on potentially dangerous dosages” of powerful painkillers like oxycodone. The “Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are trying new programs to reduce use among active-duty troops and veterans. Various states are experimenting with restrictions.”
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— “A fog of drugs and war,”Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2012.