Senators want data on prescription drug use

[unhappycamper]

Senators want data on prescription drug use
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 24, 2010 17:29:11 EDT

Several senators expressed concern Wednesday about increasing psychiatric drug usage among service members and called on top military health officials to provide detailed data about how many troops are on anti-depressants and other mind-altering drugs.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel, cited a recent Military Times report about the spike in psychotropic drug use in the military community, pointing to evidence that overall psychiatric drug usage has risen about 76 percent since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We’ve seen recent reports of increased prescription drug use that are deeply troubling … in fact, the data is stunning,” Webb told the surgeons general from the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Marine Corps’s top health official, who all appeared at the hearing on the military health system.

But military officials are backing off previous statements to lawmakers about psychiatric drug usage.

On Feb. 24, the Army’s top psychiatrist, Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, testified before Congress that about 17 percent of the active-duty force uses some form of psychiatric medications.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/military_pharmaceuticals_webb_032410w/

[Delphinus]

1. Am I naive to hope

that it might be because we've become civilized and *KNOW* that killing other is not the way to go?

[maddezmom]

2. I was just reading this as you posted: Webb: Military prescription drug use is 'stunning'

WASHINGTON - Sen. Jim Webb said Wednesday that the sharp increase in prescription drug use among U.S. service members is "stunning."

The remarks came during a hearing of a Senate panel that Webb heads.

He and Sen. Lindsey Graham requested that each service provide detailed statistics and a historical timeline of prescription drug use from 2001 to today.

Webb cited a Military Times study that concluded at least one in six service members is on some form of psychiatric-related drug.

"Nine years of conflict have stressed our military in ways that were not contemplated at the inception of the all-volunteer force," Webb said.

more:http://www.wtkr.com/news/dp-local_webb-vets_0325mar25,0,7829780.story

[Hubert Flottz]

3. "Nine years of conflict"

4 or 5 extended tours of combat duty is going to take a toll on soldiers.

The people who caused a needless war in Iraq are criminals who belong in jail or worse.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I'm reminded of John Prine's Sam Stone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo7p7ictF8