Opiates handed out like candy to 'doped-up' veterans at Wisconsin VA

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ^ | 1-12-15 | Aaron Glantz

[afraidfortherepublic]

Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Tomah hand out so many narcotic painkillers that some veterans have taken to calling the place "Candy Land."

They call the hospital's chief of staff, psychiatrist David Houlihan, the "Candy Man."

Current and former hospital staff members describe patients who show up to appointments stoned on painkillers and muscle relaxants, doze off and drool during therapy sessions, and burn themselves with cigarettes. They told The Center for Investigative Reporting that Houlihan himself "doped up" or "zombified" their patients and that workers who raised questions have been punished.

Data obtained by CIR shows the number of opiate prescriptions at the Tomah VA more than quintupled from 2004, the year before Houlihan became chief of staff of the hospital, to 2012, even as the number of veterans seeking care at the hospital declined. In August, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran died of an overdose in the inpatient psychiatric ward.

"It's a system that's gone completely haywire," said Ryan Honl, a Gulf War veteran and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who in October resigned from his position as a secretary in the hospital's mental health clinic after two months, filing a federal whistle-blower complaint on his way out.

The problems at this rural medical center underscore the difficulty the VA is having maintaining standards of quality patient care, even after a national scandal forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in May.

The exponential growth in the use of narcotics transformed the Tomah VA from a conservative prescriber of painkillers to one typical of runaway opiate prescription practices throughout the VA health care system.

[Finatic]

I belong to a Vets group on Facebook where many current/younger soldiers hang out with the old salts for support. Too many of these guys are on numerous drugs prescribed by the VA. I always make myself available to talk to guys who are getting too far out on the ledge. A few say they want to get themselves out of their heads and understand how so many turn to a bullet to do just that.

[vpintheak]

Dispicable? Yes. Let me tell a story form my persective.

I am a medically discharged Veteran. Hurt my back. The VA prescribed me oxy and another muscle relaxer. I took 1 pill1 day and said forget it!
Next appointment I had I said get rid of that prescription, I won’t take it. I will deal with the pain rather than become a drooling moron.
I understand that many people have it worse than me. We all have choices. You do not need to take the prescription, you do not need to fill it, you have choices, there are other remedies.

[Texan5]

I personally do not use or believe in using drugs, either prescription or illicit, but that is the personal choice I made many years ago. What anyone else does is likewise their choice-but they deserve to be informed of any possible side effects and all alternative treatments-an informed choice can not be made without all the info...

Too many of my husband’s fellow Nam Vets-and our friends-have used a gun or some other method of suicide as a way out of their emotional torment-drugs are no substitute for psychotherapy, and in many cases do more harm than good. Even out here in BFE I have friends and neighbors who are vets and use mind altering drugs they get from the VA-it doesn’t seem to help-three of those who took them also took their own lives just in the past 1 1/2 years. Something is very, very wrong with that...

[mabarker1]

Are You going to the VA?

When, My now Decease Wife was being “treated” for Breast cancer that eventually went everywhere: Liver/Kidney/Lung and Brain the VA handed out Oxycontin and Morphine Rx’s like they were PEZ Candy.

And they did the same for Everybody!

Heck they even mail them to you in 2-3 months supply.

[VaRepublican]

Wow. thanks for whipping out the deceased spouse on me...I was just saying that the story seems to have a bend to it. I am very sorry for your loss.

[mabarker1]

Had no intent using in that way. just linking that to what I saw because that was the only way provide (IMO) backup for the info I was posting on the way the VA WAS passing out Meds and witnessed in person and via the USPS.

A few months ago the ChampVA stopped providing those types of Meds via USPS.

Now every time you need a refill you have to go to your Doc and get a fresh shiny NEW Rx and hand deliver it to the Local Rx to be filled. They won’t even let the Docs Write an Rx with any refills on it.

THAT IS A REAL PIA!

All thanks to the zer0/holdyboy.

Thanks for the Condolences. At least She is no longer hurting and is in a WAY better place than We are.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I know just what the article said. The article did say that the frequency of meds had increased greatly while the number of patients had decreased.

But, it is the Journal Sentinel which is not the most reliable source. I always had heard that the hospital in Milwaukee was treating huge numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan vets.