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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSoaring cost of military drugs could hurt budget
Last year, the Pentagon spent more on pills, injections and vaccines than it did on Black Hawk helicopters, Abrams tanks, Hercules C-130 cargo planes and Patriot missiles combined.
Some of the prescription drugs that have fueled the militarys skyrocketing pharmaceutical budget are the same ones that have medicated the civilian world over the past decade. Since 2002, the Department of Defense has spent more than $5 billion on Lipitor, Plavix, Advair, Nexium and Singulair.
Rather than a reflection of the drugs needed to treat wounded troops, the top-selling prescriptions signal an increase in aging military retirees covered by the militarys health program, Tricare, with drugs for arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes costing billions. The Department of Defense also spent more than $380 million on erectile dysfunction drugs and $238 million on testosterone therapy drugs over the decade.
But the military drug purchases also paint a picture of a fighting force increasingly reliant on antidepressants, psychotropic drugs and powerful narcotic painkillers that critics call dangerous and that have been involved in a growing number of prescription drug overdoses. The military spent at least $2.7 billion on antidepressants and more than $1.6 billion on opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin and hydrocodone over the past decade. More than $507 million was spent on the sleeping pill Ambien and its generic equivalents.
A whole lot more to read at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/the-soaring-cost-of-military-drugs/nThwF/ .
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)You know, I'm beginning to yearn for the days when I ate Gerber and wore diapers.
Problems like figuring out how to tie your shoes were so much more manageable
TexasTowelie
(112,230 posts)We got sweat this shit now.
Yeah, that Gerber food was good stuff!
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)"We spent too much on drugs to be able to go to war."
TexasTowelie
(112,230 posts)Or is that so early?
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)sorefeet
(1,241 posts)The pink pill I been taking for 6 months and one would weigh .9 grams and another would weigh 1.2 grams so I call the pharmacy, they tell me oh those have been recalled. What the fuck is the extra weight in the pills, I been so fucking sick.
I ask for a regular prescription for Walgreens with 10/325 acetamenaphine instead of 10/500 he said no because I don't trust you. The acetamenaphine kills thousands of people and livers every year.
I am at a point in my life I trust NO doctor now. I live their lies and I see the corruption.
Do I sound bitter? Imagine that.