In a series of reports called “Uncounted Casualties,” the Austin (TX) American- Statesman (9/30) sought to answer the question, “What caused the deaths of hundreds of Texas veterans who had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan?” According to the American-Statesman, the US Department of Veterans Affairs “doesn’t track individual causes of death for its veterans.” The paper said, however, that its reporters “determined causes of death for 266 veterans and consulted with Dennis Perrotta, a former Texas state epidemiologist, to test their methodology and conclusions.”

Kemp Says VA Is Trying To Do More To Gather Suicide Data. In a Monday report for “Uncounted Casualties,” the Austin (TX) American-Statesman (10/1) reports that its “investigation into the deaths of 266 Texans who served during the Iraq or Afghanistan wars show that 45 committed suicide, making it the fourth-leading cause of death behind illness, accidents and drug-related deaths.” In 2008, a “CBS News investigation revealed an ‘alarming’ rate of suicide among veterans and a failure by the VA to gather the nationwide data needed to track the deaths.” But Jan Kemp , who heads VA’s suicide prevention programs, “said the VA is building a joint suicide database with the Defense Department so they can share information.” The American-Statesman also notes that VA has been trying to improve its mental healthcare system.

Researchers Think Warfare Changes Produce High Number Of Psychological Casualties. Another “Uncounted Casualties” story for the Austin (TX) American-Statesman (9/30) said that while “mental health researchers have not been able to pinpoint exactly why the current conflicts are producing seemingly higher numbers of psychological casualties, they point to the changing nature of modern warfare. Raymond Scurfield, a professor of social work at the University of Southern Mississippi and Vietnam veteran who has written extensively about PTSD, singled out multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, which are unique in American military history.” Scurfield “also said the unpredictable violence and sudden bomb blasts that characterize warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan can take a toll on service members’ psyches.”

Related Links:

— “Simple query prompted extensive investigation, “American-Statesman Investigative Team, Statesman.com, September 29, 2012.

Although picked up by only one televised news station, the Food and Drug Administration’s new national campaign to raise awareness about risks associated with purchasing medication from online pharmacies was covered by most of the major print and online media outlets.

ABC World News (9/28, story 6, 2:15, Muir) reported, “Tonight, the FDA is warning that the vast majority, 97% of those online pharmacies, are not legal.” ABC (Avila) added, “It’s a moving target of as many as 40,000 active online pharmacies, a huge majority of them fly by night start-ups, that the FDA warned today sell at a cut-rate price but deliver expired, contaminated and fake drugs that could harm the consumer.” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, was shown saying, “You have no assurance of the safety, efficacy or quality of those products.”

The AP (9/28, Johnson) reported that the on Friday, the FDA announced it is launching a campaign to warn “consumers that the vast majority of Internet pharmacies are fraudulent and likely are selling counterfeit drugs that could harm them.” The agency’s said its BeSafeRx campaign aims to “alert the public to the danger, amid evidence that more people are shopping for their medicine online, looking for savings and convenience.”

Related Links:

— “FDA warning public of risks of online pharmacies, “Linda Johnson, Associated Press, September 28, 2012.

USA Today (10/1, Healy) reports on a study appearing in the November issue of Pediatrics, which found that on average, children are exposed to almost four hours of background television every day. The article observes that “the nearly four hours of background TV exposure ‘easily dwarfs’ the 80 minutes of active TV viewing the average child in this age group absorbs daily, says the study.” According to USA Today, Matthew Lapierre, one of the study authors, “suspects that the high rate of background TV among very young children may have to do with parents and caregivers leaving the television on, even when they’re not actively watching, to ‘break up the monotony’ of being with an infant or toddler for long stretches of the day.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. kids exposed to 4 hours of background TV daily, “Michelle Healy, USA Today, October 1, 2012.

HealthDay (9/28, Preidt) reports, “People with psychopathic traits — such as callousness, manipulation, sensation-seeking and antisocial behaviors — are not able to use their sense of smell as well as other people can,” according to a study published online Sept. 18 in Chemosensory Perception. Investigators examined nearly 80 individuals to see whether or not their olfactory function was poor. Participants were also assessed for psychotic behavior and whether they possessed the ability to empathize with the feelings of others. The researchers “found that the people with the most psychopathic traits were more likely to have trouble identifying or distinguishing between smells.”

Related Links:

— “Poor Sense of Smell Linked to Personality Disorder, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, September 27, 2012.

WebMD (9/28, Goodman) reports, “Seniors who take certain kinds of drugs to treat anxiety or insomnia may be more likely to develop dementia than those who do not,” according to a study published online in the BMJ.

MedPage Today (9/28, Gever) reports, “Older patients who used benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs were at substantially higher risk of developing dementia than nonusers,” the study found. “Among 1,063 randomly selected individuals 65 and older in southwest France who agreed to participate in a long-term observational study, the risk of new-onset dementia during follow-up was 60% greater (adjusted odds ratio 1.60, 95% CO 1.08 to 2.38) for those who had used benzodiazepines relative to never-users.” The study authors concluded, “Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are now prescribed, physicians and regulatory agencies should consider the increasing evidence of the potential adverse effects of this drug class for the general population.”

Related Links:

— “Insomnia, Anxiety Drugs May Raise Dementia Risk, “Brenda Goodman, WebMD Health News, September 27, 2012.