Senator Asks About Troops’ Meds Use

[unhappycamper]

Senator Asks About Troops’ Meds Use
November 19, 2009
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan

A U.S. senator wants to know if American warfighters are being overmedicated in theater as a way to help them -- and the military -- get through the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The military appears to be using antidepressants at a very high rate," said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., during a podcast interview with Military.com. "The concern is that when in a battleground situation you don’t always have the type of supervision … of these drugs that are recommended."

And given the young ages of troops being given the drugs, he said, "there are potential adverse consequences that cannot adequately be monitored in theater."

Cardin recently asked the Pentagon for an official tally of just how many troops in combat may be on antidepressants. In a Nov. 10 letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Cardin ordered the Defense Department to "compile and provide to may office a report identifying the estimated number and percentage of troops since June 2005 who have been prescribed antidepressant medications while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Cardin said it is well known that troops are under increased stress and strain from pulling multiple deployments, often with short dwell times at home in between. The suicide rate has also been climbing among troops since the wars began -- for instance, the number of Soldiers taking their own lives in 2009 has already equaled that of the total for 2008.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/senator-asks-about-troops-meds-use.html