Watchdog Says Psychotropic Drug Link to Military and Veteran Suicides Warrants Federal Probe

Washington, D.C. - July 26, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Despite highly touted efforts to curb the suicide rate among active-duty service members and veterans, suicides remain high and the mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) says the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs need to fully investigate the role of prescription psychotropic drugs in these suicides.

CCHR says an investigation of this link should not be limited to those committing suicide by drug overdose but also determine whether those killing themselves by gunshot, hanging or by other methods were taking or withdrawing from psychotropic drugs at the time. It should be a focal part of the Veterans Affairs commitment of more than $186 million in 2018 to prevent suicide, CCHR adds.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon reported that 265 active-duty service members killed themselves in 2015, continuing a trend of unusually high suicide rates that have plagued the U.S. military for at least seven years, according to USA Today. The number of suicides among troops was 145 in 2001 and began a steady increase until more than doubling to 321 in 2012.[1]

Suicide—not combat—is the leading killer of U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East to fight Islamic State militants, the Pentagon statistics showed.[2]

But according to CCHR and experts working with it, there are serious concerns about the relationship between military/veteran suicides and the increase of psychotropic drug prescriptions. According to Dr. Bart Billings, a retired Colonel and Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Army, a surge of prescriptions since 2005 "coincides with the gradual increase, to this day, of suicides in the military. I feel there's a direct relationship," Billings told CNS News.[3]

In 2014, CCHR presented evidence of this to the U.S. Senate's Veteran Affairs Committee calling, then, for an inquiry into the potential violence- and suicide-inducing effects of prescribed psychiatric drugs.

That submission reported:

More than 110,000 Army personnel were given antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs while on duty in one year.[4]

Between 2005 and 2011 the military increased its prescriptions of psychoactive drugs (antipsychotics, sedatives, stimulants and mood stabilizers) by almost 700 percent, according to The New York Times.[5]
92.8 percent of the Service Members who committed suicide were male, with 39.6 percent aged between 17 and 24.
Antidepressants prescribed Service Members and veterans carry a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "black-box" warning of "suicidality" for those younger than 25.[6]

The age range of 41 percent of deployed American soldiers was 18-24. Those prescribed antidepressants are at serious risk of suicide, given the black box warning.
Further, an average of 20 veterans a day committed suicide in 2014.[7]

The situation has not changed, with it being reported in March this year that the Defense Suicide Prevention Office says that most who die by suicide in the military are younger than 30. About 68 percent die by the use of firearms, and almost 25 percent by hanging.[8]

In October 2016, The Pharmaceutical Journal reported that even healthy adults who are taking certain antidepressants have a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and violent behavior, according to the results of a systematic review. "While it is now generally accepted that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide and violence in children and adolescents (although many psychiatrists still deny this), most people believe that these drugs are not dangerous for adults. This is a potentially lethal misconception," warned the researchers, based at the Nordic Cochrane Centre and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.[9]

Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the team said: "We found that antidepressants double the risk of suicidality and violence, and it is particularly interesting that the volunteers in the studies we reviewed were healthy adults with no signs of a mental disorder." The researchers say their results suggest that it is likely that antidepressants increase the number of suicides in people of all ages.[10]

On May 25, 2017, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO-6) introduced H.R.2652, theVeteran Overmedication Prevention Act of 2017 into Congress.[11] Thiscalls for a thorough and independent review of all suicides, violent deaths, and accidental deaths during a five-year period among veterans who received treatment furnished by the Department of Veteran Affairs during the five years leading up to their deaths. The review would be done by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine under an agreement with the VA.[12]

CCHR says the legislation is a step in the right direction but points to the Department of Veterans Affairs saying it will increase spending on suicide prevention efforts by 7.5 percent to $186.1 million in 2018. And although a VA spokeswoman Gina Jackson calls this its "highest clinical priority,"[13] CCHR says that spending on and use of psychotropic drugs that may be driving veterans to suicide must be part of that priority.

Add to this, Friedhelm Sandbrink, M.D., the VA's Acting National Program Director for Pain Management, reported that up to 75 percent of older veterans experience chronic pain. Such pain may be treated with opioids which carry a risk for overuse or misuse. Complicating matters is additional psychotropic drugs being prescribed with opioids.[14] Cocktails of opioids and benzodiazepines, for example, can be lethal. On August 31, 2016, the FDA announced that it was requiring changes to drug labeling, including patient information, to warn of the serious risks associated with the combined use of certain opioids and benzodiazepines. Risks include extreme sleepiness, respiratory depression, coma and death. "It is nothing short of a public health crisis when you see a substantial increase of avoidable overdose and death related to two widely used drug classes being taken together," said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D.[15]

CCHR International has presented annual Human Rights Awards to individuals and families fighting for better treatment and care for military members and veterans—free of the influence of potentially harmful psychotropic drugs and cocktails of drugs. An example of the Award Winners is:

The parents of U.S. Marine Cpl Andrew R. White, 23, who died suddenly after being prescribed a "lethal cocktail of antidepressants, antipsychotics and analgesics," his father Stan White said. Mr. White and his wife, Shirley, have worked tirelessly to warn about the dangers of such prescribing. Retired California neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman Jr. supported them saying he is convinced that military doctors are overprescribing antipsychotic medications in combinations that can cause cardiac arrest, often resulting in death.[16] "The treatment of traumatized vets with psychiatric drugs is an enemy we never saw coming," Mr. White said in accepting the Human Rights Award.

All that Pat Mena's youngest son, Anthony (Tony), wanted to do when he graduated High School was to defend his country by joining the Air Force. He was deployed twice to Iraq and managed to dodge bullets, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs. But what he couldn't dodge was the cocktail of psychiatric drugs he was prescribed upon his return. Like so many others returning from combat, Mena suffered from insomnia, restlessness and nightmares. He also complained of severe back pain. Between January of 2008 and his death in July 2009, Mena was prescribed no less than 35 prescription drugs, including numerous antidepressants, pain killers, tranquilizers and muscle relaxers.[17] Mrs. Mena wrote of Anthony's experience in the book You'll Be Fine, Darling: Struggling with PTSD after the Trauma of War.[18] In her acceptance of CCHR's Award, she stated: "Tony would want me to say this to everyone. 'When there is something wrong, you speak up.' He would be grateful for a group like CCHR for speaking up and also being a voice for so many. Please keep telling people to question their doctors. Keep in mind that thousands of people have died from drug intoxication. On a beautiful summer morning, Tony lost the opportunity to ever see another sun rise again. Keep supporting CCHR so that as a united voice, you can ensure this never happens to others and their loved ones."

The Navy S.E.A.L. Foundation speaks of the S.E.A.L.'s rigorous physical training, mental discipline and innate force that ensure his place amongst "the pinnacle of elite warriors." Former S.E.A.L, Mikal Vega, twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor and a 22-year combat veteran, survived numerous dangerous combat operations and deployments only to be nearly killed by the cocktail of painkillers and psychiatric drugs prescribed him by military doctors. "Veterans are killing themselves at a rate of 22 a day—one every 65 minutes. They say it's because of the stresses of war, but 85 percent of military suicides never even saw combat. One in six American service members is on at least one psychiatric drug—antidepressants or powerful antipsychotics," Vega stated.[19] Speaking of CCHR's Human Rights Award and the need to inform others about adverse effects of psychotropic drugs, Vega said that this award "will serve as a reminder of the lives lost that have spurred us to action, and of our unification under the umbrella of this common cause of saving lives through the dissemination of truth."

Dr. Bart Billings Ph.D. is also the founder and director of the International Military and Civilian Combat Stress Conference. He was one of the first military professionals to disclose the link between psychotropic drug use and military suicides and submitted testimony to the House Veterans Affairs Committee on the link between psychiatric drugs and veteran suicide in 2010.[20] "Mental health cannot be achieved when one is given mind-altering drugs that directly interfere with their cognitive functioning, resulting in them being mentally incapable and, also in many situations, interfering with them meeting their basic human needs to survive," according Dr. Billings.[21] Dr. Billings book, Invisible Scars: How to Treat Combat Stress and PTSD without Medication, chronicles the VA & the Military's decision to use brain/mind altering medications for residual effects of combat stress, why they do it, the effects on veterans/soldiers.[22]

CCHR encourages anyone whose family member is in the military, or who is a veteran, to consult a medical doctor if there are concerns about psychotropic prescription practices and also report any abuse to CCHR.As a nonprofit, CCHR relies on memberships and donations to carry out its mission and actions to educate others about psychotropic drug use. It produced a public benefit documentary for the Armed Forces, veterans and families, The Hidden Enemy.

Family Research Council Statement on Senate Vote on Motion to Proceed to Obamacare Repeal

On Tuesday, the Senate agreed to proceed to a debate on H.R. 1628, the House-passed American Health Care Act of 2017. In order for the Senate to debate the important elements of Obamacare's repeal and replacement, senators needed first to support a procedural motion to begin consideration of H.R. 1628. Family Research Council (FRC) scored in favor of the motion to proceed to H.R. 1628.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"Finally, the U.S. Senate has taken a crucial step toward repealing Obamacare, redirecting dollars away from the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and putting America's healthcare system on a path to recovery. For more than 7 years, Republicans have promised the American people that they would repeal Obamacare, they did so in 2015, and now Congress finally has a president who will put his signature on the legislation.

"Family Research Council supported beginning debate on this health care legislation in order to get to amendments to repeal Obamacare with its massive expansion of subsidies for health care plans that cover elective abortion, to defund abortion organizations from mandatory spending programs and pull back on this onerous law that has harmed so many families. The motion to proceed was only the first step, and now senators need to support amendments to rid America of the moral, regulatory, and cost burden that the so-called 'Affordable' Care Act has been.

"We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the many Members of Congress who make the protection of unborn children in the context of health care reform a high priority. The eyes of the pro-life movement are now intensely focused on the U.S. Senate as they vote on amendments to repeal Obamacare and replace it without also subsidizing elective abortion. We strongly support amendments to ensure that, if abortion funding protections on credits are struck on procedural grounds, that Americans' tax dollars are redirected in a way that does not subsidize abortion coverage.

"We strongly oppose any amendments to continue funding for abortion organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. It's the moral responsibility of Republican senators to support the repeal bill and fulfill their campaign promises that helped them secure the congressional majority," concluded Perkins.

AARP Statement on Senate Vote to Proceed on Health Care Bill

Washington, D.C. - July 26, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- In response to the Senate vote on the motion to proceed to consider a health care bill that would cut Medicare and Medicaid and impose an Age Tax on older Americans, AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond released the following statement:

"AARP is disheartened that a majority of Senators voted to move forward on a bill that would devastate millions of Americans. Today's vote means the Senate is one step closer to passing legislation that will price gouge people over age 50 and strip health insurance from tens of millions of Americans.

"AARP will continue fighting to stop the Senate from passing any bill that increases costs, imposes an Age Tax, strips coverage from people, cuts Medicare, and cuts the Medicaid services seniors need to stay in their homes.

"Any Senator considering voting for the health care bill should understand the consequences of ignoring AARP's 38 million members. People over age 50 overwhelmingly vote and they will remember who voted to give them a $13,000 premium hike. AARP will print every Senator's vote in AARP Bulletin, a publication read by 30.4 million people.

"None of the current bills is the right way to fix health care. AARP stands ready to work with Congress on bipartisan solutions that will lower costs and improve care."

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name.

Statement By Secretary John F. Kelly On Texas Smuggling Incident

Washington, D.C. - July 26, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Statement By Secretary John F. Kelly On Texas Smuggling Incident:

This tragedy demonstrates the brutality of the network of which I often speak. These smugglers have no regard for human life and seek only profits. The Department of Homeland Security and its partners in the U.S., Mexico and Central America will continue to root out these smugglers, bring them to justice and dismantle their networks.

The dedicated men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not only investigate and help prosecute horrific incidents like this but they and their U.S. Customs and Border Protection colleagues work hard day and night, 365 days a year, to prevent senseless deaths and injuries like these. They put their lives on the line to rescue and save the lives of those who attempt the treacherous journey north on the network of abuse and death.

The Senate’s Latest Obamacare Replacement Effort will not improve the Nation’s Health, Affordable Care Act

Washington, D.C. - July 26, 2017 (The Ponder News) --The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) on the Senate’s motion to proceed.

“Each new iteration of Obamacare repeal legislation has failed to do what a health bill should: improve the nation’s health.

We know—according to the Congressional Budget Office’s scores on any number of the attempted bills—that tens of millions of people will quickly lose access to health insurance and the preventive services and programs which keep them from developing debilitating and costly chronic diseases.

That is, simply, the opposite of what a bill—intended to improve the nation’s health—should do.

Continued attempts to eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund would irreparably harm the nation’s health. States and communities rely on the hundreds of millions of dollars they receive annually to work on the critical health issues—including the opioid epidemic, lead poisoning, obesity, tobacco use and vaccine-preventable illnesses—facing their citizens.

To date, any funding included in repeal legislation for the opioid crisis has been nowhere near enough to solve the problem and will not make up for the substantially larger cuts to Medicaid and the Prevention Fund.

Estimates have found that the total coverage cost for people receiving treatment for substance misuse disorders could reach $220 billion over the next decade. And, people with substance misuse disorders often suffer from additional health problems – for example, mental illness and chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes – and need the routine access to care and services provided by Medicaid. As such, substance misuse treatment must remain part of the Medicaid integrated care system.

TFAH encourages the Administration and Congress to start over and create a true healthcare bill that will improve upon Obamacare, keep people covered and safeguard the nation’s health.”

Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

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School Choice Debate to be held August 3!

RNC Statement on Senate Health Care Bill

Washington, D.C. - July 26, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released the following statement on the Senate's vote on the motion to proceed towards Obamacare repeal:

"Republicans answered President Trump's call, taking another step towards fulfilling our promise to the American people to implement a better health care system," said Chairwoman McDaniel. "As Obamacare continues to collapse, millions of Americans are suffering from skyrocketing costs and crumbling marketplaces, yet Democrats continue to obstruct and resist. It is unfortunate that not a single Democrat agreed to proceed to vote on any fixes whatsoever to this disastrous Obamacare law. It’s time for the political games by Democrats to end. Americans deserve better.”

First Liberty Institute Attorneys Meet with Executive Agency on Draft HHS Contraceptive Mandate Rule

Washington, D.C. - July 25, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- On Monday, attorneys with First Liberty Institute held an on-the-record meeting with officials from the executive agencies tasked with reviewing rules related to the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate following President Trump's Executive Order from May 4, 2017, entitled, "Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty." During the meeting, First Liberty urged that the draft interim final rule leaked to the press last month and offering broad conscience protections be made final as soon as possible.

Read First Liberty's letter provided to Director Mick Mulvaney on behalf of its clients at Monday's meeting by clicking here.

"Our clients have been litigating against the government's effort to punish business owners and ministry leaders for following their religious beliefs and moral convictions since 2013," said Matthew Kacsmaryk, Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty. "As President Trump recognized in the Rose Garden on May 4, it is time to reaffirm 'America's leadership role as a nation that protects religious freedom for everyone.' That starts by finalizing this draft interim final rule and ending years of litigation."

First Liberty Institute currently represents the Insight for Living Ministries, the Bible-teaching ministry of Pastor Charles R. Swindoll, along with four retirement communities and two colleges associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church.

In late May, a draft of an interim final rule was leaked the press. The draft rule proposes to reverse guidelines instituted during the Obama administration. Rather than offer narrow exemptions limited primarily to churches and their auxiliaries, under the draft interim final rule, Trump administration officials appear poised to adopt broad exemptions based upon an individual, business, or organization's religious conscience or moral conviction.

First Liberty is a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to defending religious liberty for all Americans.

USW Opposes Trump Administration's New Voter Fraud Commission

Pittsburgh, PA - July 25, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard released the following statement following the Trump administration's announcement this week regarding its newly formed commission to investigate voter fraud:

"Despite no evidence to support the claims and despite the many issues our government should be focusing its efforts on, the Trump administration has chosen instead to launch a reckless and expensive investigation into what it asserts to be 'widespread voter fraud.'

"This investigation, which will be led by Vice President Pence, found its roots in the November 2016 election when then President-elect Donald Trump went on a Twitter rampage about the popular vote, despite winning the presidency through the electoral college. He claimed he would have won the popular vote too if not for 'the millions of people who voted illegally.'

"But the fact is these 'millions of people who voted illegally' don't exist. It never happened. State and local election officials have not found any evidence to support the claims, and the Trump administration itself hasn't offered anything either except some shady math and questionable studies. All we have are trumped-up allegations that merely distract the media and U.S. citizens from the chaos that has ensued within Trump's own cabinet, but we know better than to fall for them.

"It doesn't take rocket science to figure out that this investigation is all just an effort to eventually legalize voter suppression, which is one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time. Since 2008, state legislatures across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans—particularly black people, the elderly, students and people with disabilities—to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. Some of these measures include strict voter ID laws, eliminating same-day voter registration, and cutting a full week of early voting.

"These are the things the Trump administration should be investigating in regards to the voting booth. We should be protecting and enhancing everyone's ability to vote, not making it harder and definitely not asking states to hand over private information about their citizens, which is what the president's commission recently asked state election officials to do. Of course, nearly all of them have denied that request to at least some degree.

"This probe into so-called 'widespread voter fraud' is not only a waste of time and money, it is also a violation of civil rights. Strengthening the voting process is something we all want, but this fraud squad does the exact opposite.

"There is dignity in our democracy, and we have to fight to keep it that way. We must urge the Trump administration to call off this investigation and invest its energy in the issues that truly matter to the American people."

Hamilton Crawford: No Agreement in China/US Trade Talks

Shanghai - July 25, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Hamilton Crawford: Bilateral talks held in Washington D.C. between U.S. and Chinese trade delegates have concluded without reaching an agreement. Both sides failed to issue a joint statement or a plan of action for future talks and a scheduled joint press conference was canceled.

The U.S. has been highly critical of China's $347 billion trade surplus and have been demanding fairer trade that gives its exporters access to Chinese consumers as well as seeking to address the contentious issue of cheap Chinese steel being dumped on global markets, depressing prices and hurting U.S. steel exporters.

"We don't think anyone had any serious hopes that significant headway would be made at such an early stage but the fact that the joint press conference was canceled suggests there are some significant obstacles for both sides to overcome," explained a senior market strategist at the Shanghai-based investment house, Hamilton Crawford.

President Trump, who was highly critical of China's trade policies during his election campaign, told a reporter that the trade tariffs he has frequently alluded to in rhetorical tweets and statements "could happen."

"Mr. Trump has a penchant for bluster so we don't expect the U.S. to impose tariffs on Chinese goods especially if he wants their help in dealing with errant North Korea," added the Hamilton Crawford strategist. "We have an optimistic view of the future for trade between these two economic powerhouses and expect good news from future meetings."

In May this year, the U.S. and China reached agreement on a deal that grants credit ratings and credit card companies access to the Chinese market while China lifted its ban on U.S. beef and began accepting LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) shipments.

NDIA applauds, offers its help to Trump effort to review defense industrial base

Arlington, VA - July 25, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The National Defense Industrial Association applauded Friday President Donald Trump's intent to sign an executive order for a wide "whole of government" review of the defense industrial base, saying the action is a long time in coming and offering its hand in research and study.

"The review is long overdue," said retired Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle on Friday. "Fully understanding sound, solid ways to strengthen our industrial base is crucial to U.S. national security."

Comments from Carlisle, president and CEO of the Arlington, VA-based defense nonprofit organization that champions issues and policy for a strong defense industrial base, came after the White House announced Friday that Trump would sign the "Executive Order on Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States."

The order says the United States has lost more than 60,000 factory jobs and more that 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2001, Trade Policy Director Peter Navarro said during a press briefing. America's defense industrial base now facing increasing gaps in its capabilities, he said.

Carlisle agreed. "The United States must concentrate on its ability to stay ahead," he said. "We need to ensure that we maintain core capabilities and advance our manufacturing capacity and supply chain. We have to build better and faster, and we have to ensure that we have the workforce available to make that happen."

Warfighting capability versus capacity is among those issues. "We don't have capacity for what the nation is asking our warfighters to do," Carlisle said. For instance, he said, there is a shortage of fighter jets as well as pilots to fly them.

"We are on a precipice," he said, "and we are burning out our warriors."

Carlisle said NDIA is ready to work with both the Defense Department and industry to complete this review under the whole-of-government approach, which calls on diverse segments of government to study an issue for a common solution.

"Our 80,000-plus members are the best and brightest, and the reason NDIA remains a leader in defense and national security organizations," Carlisle said. "We are ready to get this examination started."

Trump was expected to sign the executive order Friday night; it is then due to be done 270 days later, likely by next spring. The Pentagon will lead the review, considered the first such assessment of the defense industrial base.

NDIA offers Carlisle and its broad base of defense industry experts for further comment on this executive order.

The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is the trusted leader in defense and national security associations. As a 501(c)(3) corporate and individual membership association, NDIA engages thoughtful and innovative leaders to exchange ideas, information, and capabilities that lead to the development of the best policies, practices, products, and technologies to ensure the safety and security of our nation. NDIA's membership embodies the full spectrum of corporate, government, academic, and individual stakeholders who form a vigorous, responsive, and collaborative community in support of defense and national security.