VA testing drugs on war veterans

[ThoughtCriminal]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-war-veterans/

The government is testing drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior on hundreds of military veterans, using small cash payments to attract patients into medical experiments that often target distressed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a Washington Times/ABC News investigation has found.

In one such experiment involving the controversial anti-smoking drug Chantix, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took three months to alert its patients about severe mental side effects. The warning did not arrive until after one of the veterans taking the drug had suffered a psychotic episode that ended in a near lethal confrontation with police.

James Elliott, a decorated Army sharpshooter who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving 15 months in Iraq, was confused and psychotic when he was Tasered by police in February as he reached for a concealed handgun when officers responded to a 911 call at his Maryland home.

For photos, video of James Elliott, official FDA documents and more, visit the interactive site for the Disposable Heroes report.

Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, began taking Chantix last fall as part of a VA experiment that specifically targeted veterans with PTSD, opting to collect $30 a month for enrolling in the clinical trial because he needed cash as he returned to school. He soon began suffering hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, unaware that the new drug he was taking could have caused them.

Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA learned from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the drug was linked to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in February.

In failing to do so, Mr. Elliott said, the VA treated him like a "disposable hero."

"You're a lab rat for $30 a month," Mr. Elliott said.

[Pat Smith]

You might of read this in the letters to the editor in The Times Leader over a year ago. I have been saying this for years, but it seems no one was listening. Here is the link to a small article I wrote two years ago.

Our vets should not be over-medicated, experimented on.
Several months ago, "60 Minutes" did a segment entitled "A Pill to Forget?" It was about the old drug used for high blood pressure called propranolol that they believe can erase memories. The story ended by saying that the military has provided funding to test this theory on veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Distru...ruth&id=584613