The Pill Pushers

While I write this post, please understand that I speak from experience, with Senior, and my father in law. Are or where under the care of Veterans Administration doctors. Senior was once stationed with another chief, who's wife was in an accident, she was prescribed hydrochodone, went back for more, then she soon learned it had street value and began to traffic it. She was so far gone and over the edge, she was facing jail time for the trafficking  to avoid that fate she chose to take her own life.

What we saw on the news tonight,  we could  most certainly relate too: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50155446n

The rise in over medicating the nations veterans has surged nearly 270 % in the last 12 years.  Whenever you go to the VA for a medical problem, you get all kinds of thing prescribed to you. You walk through the door, tell the doc your problem, get examined, and "poof" you get a prescription of narcotics, with refills. Then begins the abuse. Then you go through your prescription , go back again, and "poof" another refill. Before the patient knows it, they are addicted.
Then it is realized that the first prescription is no longer affective, or the pain has worsened and "poof" you get something else stronger prescribed...Before you know it, you are on as much as 8 different pain killers all at the same time.  Going to the VA is like being a kid in a candy store.

You are depressed,  suicidal, you hallucinate, you can't sleep at night, but once you do fall asleep you will sleep until the late afternoon. Even worse is you are more confrontational and abusive towards family and friends.

Another fellow veteran friend of ours, was recently hospitalized. His wife demanded he go to a civilian hospital, it was learned that the VA had over prescribed his blood pressure medication and he nearly died.
The same was also the story for my father in law, after he did pass from heart failure, we learned just how much medication the VA had prescribed, and was still sending to his home.

Below is a map the dark orange areas are the facilities with the worse cases of abuse :

The VA Hospitals in
Oregon,
Las Vegas, NV
and in Alabama
All have the highest rate of narcotic/prescription drug abuse.

 If you know a Veteran who you believe is being over prescribed pain killers, and are possibly addicted to them then please talk to them. Encourage them to get help, Before they hurt themselves, or some innocent person.....

-JUGM