With prescription painkiller addictions and overdoses on the rise among veterans, is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over-prescribing veterans painkillers? According to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the number of opiates (such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine) prescribed to veterans has risen by 270 percent in the past twelve years. This has left many worried that VA practices of prescribing veterans painkillers is not only ineffective but dangerous.
Data gathered by the CIR also showed that the VA has issued “more than one opiate prescription per patient, on average, for the past two years.” When experts are questioned as to why there has been such a dramatic increase in the number of painkiller prescriptions written for veterans, many confirm that the VA is “overmedicating its patients as it struggles to keep up with their need for more complex treatment.” (CIR)
Back in 2009 when there were reports of a growing problem among veterans and prescription drug abuse, the VA set forth regulations for veteran treatment that included an increased focus on assessing the root of the pain problem instead of just prescribing painkillers. However, as is especially the case in more rural areas, waiting for treatment for the root cause of pain often leaves a veteran waiting for months. This is time not only a veteran is left suffering, but also allows for patterns of painkiller abuse to be established.
According to a PBS special that investigated why veterans were returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to then battle addictions to painkillers, the majority of struggling veterans are prescribed painkillers by doctors at VA Hospitals that they trust and don’t question. They want to get better, so they take what their doctor prescribes. And many veterans are being prescribed more than one prescription. They are given drug cocktails that include opiates, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants and more. So it’s not surprising that the death rate from prescription drug overdose among veterans at VA hospitals is twice the national average.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan with injuries they sustained on the battlefield. And now many of them are fighting the frustrating and damaging battle against addiction. After making it home from war, too many are losing their life to prescription drug overdoses. The VA model for treatment is ineffective because they are merely masking symptoms with prescription drugs or replacing one type of drug for another. NTR Brain Restoration is not only effective in detoxing patients from drugs and alcohol, including Methadone, but it has shown to alleviate chronic pain and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), naturally and drug-free.
