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FIVE DEATHS AT L.A. VA FACILITY PROMPT
INVESTIGATION --
The deaths come amid rising concern about the
ability of
military and VA hospitals to treat the influx
of veterans with
PTSD, other mental illnesses and substance
abuse problems.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/
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5 deaths at Los Angeles VA facility prompt
investigation
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES- Federal and local officials are investigating the deaths of
five men who were being cared for in residential rehabilitation programs
or emergency housing at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.
The men, who died between November and February, had substance abuse
problems as well as other medical issues, said Dr. Dean Norman, chief of
staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system. All but one are believed to
have died of drug overdoses.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the hospital itself and the Los
Angeles County coroner's office are reviewing the deaths, the Los
Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
The hospital has already enhanced security and included more random
urine tests, increased staffing on weekend nights and room checks for
drugs.
Marine Corps veteran Justin Bailey, who had been diagnosed with
post-traumatic stress disorder and a groin injury, checked himself into
the VA hospital after Thanksgiving because of his addiction to
prescription and street drugs.
The 27-year-old who served in Iraq got prescriptions filled on Jan. 25
for five medications, including methadone, according to medical records.
He was found dead of a drug overdose the next day in his room at the
hospital's rehabilitation center.
"My son had made a decision to get help, and they didn't help him. They
gave him the bullet," Gulf War veteran Tony Bailey, 47, of Las Vegas
told the Times.
The other deaths under investigation
are of Vietnam-era veterans in their late 40s and 50s, Norman said.
Two of them also were in the residential treatment facility where Bailey
lived.
Veteran Mark Torres, who was in his 50s, is believed to have died of a
heroin overdose, Norman said. The other domiciliary death is believed to
have resulted from medical causes unrelated to an overdose.
The two other deaths occurred in an emergency housing program called the
Haven, which is run by the Salvation Army. Both are believed to have
been from overdoses of illicit drugs.
Norman said the VA runs an outreach program that finds homeless veterans
on Skid Row and in jails and takes them to the Haven and other emergency
shelters.
"If we don't have that emergency housing, then they wind up in the
streets," Norman said. "The idea once they go to emergency housing is to
get them into recovery programs."
The deaths come amid rising concern about the ability of military and VA
hospitals to treat the influx of veterans with post-traumatic stress
disorder, other mental illnesses and substance abuse problems.
An Army-funded study recently published in the American Journal of
Psychiatry found that almost one in five combat veterans returning from
Iraq suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which increases the
risk of substance abuse.
About 3,000 Iraq war vets are being treated through the Greater L.A. VA
system. About 50 are seriously injured.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times,
http://www.latimes.com
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Larry Scott --
