Posted on 06/21/2008 5:01:12 AM PDT by kellynla
The McCain campaign's flat-footedness amid revelations of dangerous government drug testing on veterans reflects very unfavorably on the candidate. Whereas Barack Obama swiftly condemned the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday morning, John McCain, perhaps the nation's most famous wounded veteran, still had not made any public remarks by our deadline last evening. Some scandals require studious silence until the facts emerge. This isn't one of them.
As a three-month Washington Times/ABC News investigation revealed this week, the VA is administering drugs with severe potential side effects to hundreds of military veterans participating in studies that fail Medical Ethics 101: "First, do no harm." In some cases, documented by The Washington Times, the VA failed to communicate the risks of the drugs to subjects who include many post-traumatic stress syndrome patients returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In one case described in The Times, a former Army sharpshooter suffered a dramatic recurrence of his stress symptoms while participating in a trial of Pfizer Inc.'s smoking-cessation drug Chantix. He did not find out that the drug's potential side effects include "changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior" until after a stress episode requiring police to Taser and restrain him. "I would have shot me," the sharpshooter said of the potentially tragic encounter.
As we noted in our editorial Wednesday, the scope of this problem could be quite large. There have been 25 tests on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and 300 studies on the disorder itself. At least five of the drugs under testing bear warnings about suicide or suicidal thoughts. There are 4,796 veterans enrolled in post-traumatic stress disorder studies at present. Medical research on the treatment of this disorder is of course vital.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
ping
Fairly obvious question:
How many other drugs report potential side effects of suicidal ideation, personality changes, etc.?
Anything reported by the study group during the tests becomes a potential side effect. A drug that causes hair to grow has to be studied, and if a few members of the study group report depression while taking it, that must be included in the study results. It may have nothing to do with the effects of the drug, but you can’t prove a negative.
I wonder if the McCain Camp peruses Free Republic on a daily basis. If not, they should. They could get a lot of info here that might help them know what real people are thinking.
A McCain staffer told me (probably five or six years ago) that they were “familiar. Very familiar.” with Free Republic.
‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs
An ABC News and Washington Times Investigation Reveals Vets Are Being Recruited for Government Tests on Drugs with Violent Side Effects
By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 17, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5180437&page=1
Veterans to Receive Chantix Warning Letters
Posted by Jacob Goldstein
June 20, 2008, 8:49 am
The VA is sending letters to more than 30,000 veterans who are taking the smoking-cessation drug Chantix, warning them of the drug’s possible side effects, including suicide.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/20/veterans-to-receive-chantix-warning-letters/?mod=googlenews_wsj
Ping
I think it might be an issue that you learn about before you run at the mouth. McCain might be doing just that. Thre is fact and fantasy when it comes to the VA.
“I think it might be an issue that you learn about before you run at the mouth?”
Oh really, and just what do I need to “learn?”
Or are you just another FR flame-baiter who has nothing more to ad to the debate but ad hominem posts.
I’m not talking about you, and apologize if you misunderstood. I was referring to “Obama running at the mouth” as he has in the past before checking on what he was saying.
And before I leave you to your insults; I haven’t formed an opinion on this particular subject...my first post was a quote from the article...but of course if you had read the entire article, you would know that.
I suggest you stick to what you know and let those of us who are WAR VETERANS with personal experience with the V.A. make our own judgments, thank you.
And in the meantime, keep your insults to yourself.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Apology accepted.
Kelly,
I’m embarrassed. I’m an MD and know about the VA good and bad. Im glad we cleared this up.
Nick
Kelly,
I’m embarrassed. I’m an MD and know about the VA good and bad. Im glad we cleared this up.
Nick
No problem...if you had only said “Obama” instead of “you” in your first post there wouldn’t been a problem. LOL
Have a good one.
Kelly
Just my two cents worth, Kelly.....it appears to me that you jumped before you should have and it would be cool for you to apologize, yourself.
Semper Fi to you, Mac.
kelly, you’re such a pushover. lol!
; )
(It wasn’t kelly’s misunderstanding, it was poor sentence structure.)
Hey, freema!!
How the heck are you doing, gal?
I’m glad to see that these boys got their gear packed into a nice, tidy package.
This election cycle has gone on far too long already and by November, we’re all going to have some frayed nerves, I suppose.
Lot’s of pent up energy here. I’m sensing how we all started to feel during the last election. The Swiftboat thing kicked in and I was like on the site like bad smell.
McCain better not let us down with his VP pick. IF he’s the security for America candidate then he’s got to step up to the plate and show us.
and opinions are like noses...everybody has one...
I suggest you MYOB.
Point taken, Kelly.
For the record, I was just attempting to cover your back. You know....one Gyrene to another....didn’t want to see you step on a punji.
That’s the key....who is he going to pick as his VP?
Frankly, I’ve had enough of former Swabbies in office to last me a lifetime.
I think that we need to run a MARINE in 2112. I really like Col. North!
I think that as long as we do that, we should also use our elected officials as lab rats.
Perhaps Kennedy’s brain tumor surgery should have been performed by an internist. Valuable experience, you know. :-)
Agreed on all counts, except I don’t think Kennedy has a brain tuma. I think he’s just got wet brain. Watch for a miraculous recovery.
Why, in God’s name, would anyone at the level this study received approval grant said approval unless it was intentional. Folks that high up aren’t stupid enough to do such a thing accidentally.
Nix the pent up energy. It was poor sentence structure.
Be a big boy and admit it : )
It was and it is!!! :-)
“When the whale appeared to be somewhat healthy and large during the 2004 season I suggested tossing him out of a C130 with a non-checked parachute over Baghdad. But at this point I will withhold wishes against him.
I hope no one reading this post think for one minute I am not concerned with how our troops are treated in every respect.”
Well....you can always tranfer that wish to that al Qaeda supporting a$$hole, John Murtha. We could also reactivate him, ship him over to Afganistan and put him out on point with a recon patrol.
It’s fine to apologize. However, I knew exactly what you meant. It’s amazing how often comments made to an article get misinterpreted as an attack on the person who posted the article.
Obama has done NOTHING to solve this problem. All he did was SAY something. Just WORDS.
McCain speaking up quickly would also do NOTHING to solve the problem.
Has Obama rushed back to Washington? Did he introduce legislation to fix it? If not, he’s just talking, and talk is cheap.
Wuzn’t, but then again, I might be biased. I like hot Marines : )
I’ve been doing real good since Mothers’Day weekend. Prior to that things were pretty dicey, but it’s all good now. How’s the family? I see that you’ve been as busy as usual, so that’s cool!
Uh Rah!
And Rangers jump out of fast moving airplanes. Sometimes they even let us use parachutes.
Marines go where the Airborne already has been.....
Glad to hear everything’s going good. We’re all doing well, don’t know how, don’t know why, ain’t gonna question it, just gonna accept it!
Yessireebob!
I wanna be a Chairborne Ranger,
Live the life of paper pushin’ danger,
Keep me out of the drop zone,
I just wanna go back home.
; )
“Marines go where the Airborne already has been.....”
That’s because somebody has to hold onto the area.
ROFLMAO!
Those are CLASSIC! Don’t forget the “One-O-Worst of the Pukin’ Buzzards!
But don’t forget to ask the NVA/Chinese and the VC about the “Chicken Men”. We were everything but......
Semper Fi Brothers!...... You got my Curahee!
We used to have to jump out of our Chinooks on occassion....I have never understood how one could possibly want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, though.
You guys have my respect, though. I also think you’re nuts!
Uh huh. I gotcha now. I’ve heard those Chicken Men were a bad bunch of mother cluckers : )
I'm on it now. Side effects observed: you get a little grouchy. Drink and you can turn into a really pissed off a$$hole.
Suicide? Not even close. Now, beating the ever loving crap out of someone that pissed you off? Really tempting at times.
And if you had a fresh case of PTSD?
Then no, taking it would not be a good idea. Additional effect: VERY vivid dreams during the first week.
Relapse of combat nightmares was described in the first article I linked at Post #6.
McCain should grow a set and pick Col. North for VP - this year...
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