Vets With Mental Health Issues More Likely to Get Opioid Pain
Meds – With Serious Consequences Iran and Afghanistan war
veterans with mental health diagnoses, particularly PTSD, are
more likely to be prescribed opioid drugs to treat their pain —
and experience issues like overdose, abuse, and injuries as a
result. TUESDAY, Mar. 6, 2012 — According to the Department of
Veteran Affairs, about 11 to 20 percent of troops returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan are struggling with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), and more than half also experience problems
with chronic pain. Now a new study finds that many veterans with
mental health issues, particularly PTSD, are being prescribed
powerful prescription painkillers that put them at high risk of
overdose, accidents, self-inflicted injuries, and other serious
consequences. The report, published in the March 7 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association, involved over
100,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were diagnosed with
non-cancer-related pain