Men and women in the U.S. military are more medicated than ever — and their doctors don’t even know who takes what.
The Department of Defense doesn’t keep track of medical prescriptions doled out to service members in combat, despite ongoing pleas from federal officials to do just that.
Last week, a report on the military’s 2012 budget from the House Appropriations Committee remarked that the prescription of pain management drugs is handled inconsistently — especially in battle.
The report also handed down an ultimatum: Within two months of the budget’s approval, the committee wants concrete information on “the required steps and potential obstacles toward electronic transmission of prescription drug data.”
Estimates of active-duty drug use are stunning: A 2010 Army study found that 14 percent of soldiers had been prescribed an opiate painkiller, with 95 percent of those prescriptions for oxycodone, a notoriously addictive pharmaceutical best known by the brand name OxyContin.
And since 2001, military spending on prescription meds has skyrocketed. Orders for antipsychotics like Seroquel are up 200 percent, and demand for anti-anxiety drugs like Valium has increased by 170 percent, according to Defense Logistics Agency records.
This is not the first time Congress has urged the Pentagon to do better when it comes to drug data. Last year, the Senate Armed Services Committee derided the military for its inability to offer hard numbers on prescription medication.
Many of the antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs and anti-anxiety drugs prescribed are highly addictive. Potential side effects include dulled reaction times, irritability and a heightened risk of suicide.
“The medications they use shouldn’t be so heavily prescribed in combat,” Dr. Judith Broder, a psychiatrist and founder of the Soldiers Project, a nonprofit counseling service, told The Daily.
“But they can’t afford to send anyone home. They need the bodies — health and welfare are secondary.”
Side effects are hardly the only problem: Without a tracking system, troops can readily abuse medications and even share and swap.
“They’ll often have a medicine cabinet full of drugs, and they’ll pass them around,” Broder said. “That this isn’t being tracked is terrible. Absolutely terrible.”
Whether or not the military tracks prescriptions, there’s no easy answer to managing mental health in combat, said Dr. Frank Ochberg, an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder and the former associate director for the National Institute of Mental Health.
“Of course it makes good sense to track prescriptions, but without access to these drugs, what’s a soldier’s plan B?” Ochberg said. “It’s alcohol, and that’s certainly not good.”
Another problem for the military: The drugs that can impair performance or trigger addiction and overdose are also the best way to keep ailing service members patched up.
“There’s the ethical question: Should there be any combat participant taking antidepressants or psychotropics?” Ochberg said. “And then the practical matter, that it’s simply imperative for a troop to be able to function, to wind down or even just to get a good night’s sleep.”
BY THE NUMBERS
$16 million
The amount the Department of Defense spent on antipsychotic drugs, such as Seroquel, in 2009 — a 200 percent increase from 2001.
17 percent
The share of active-duty troops taking antidepressants, according to estimates released by the Army last year.
25-35 percent
The share of wounded soldiers who are addicted to prescription and illegal drugs while they await medical discharge.
180 days
The length of some prescriptions — including antipsychotics and narcotics — handed out by battlefield doctors, along with a 180-day refill.
73 percent
The share of accidental deaths in the Army attributed to prescription medications in 2010.
Katie.Drummond@thedaily.com
The Department of Defense doesn’t keep track of medical prescriptions doled out to service members in combat, despite ongoing pleas from federal officials to do just that.
Last week, a report on the military’s 2012 budget from the House Appropriations Committee remarked that the prescription of pain management drugs is handled inconsistently — especially in battle.
The report also handed down an ultimatum: Within two months of the budget’s approval, the committee wants concrete information on “the required steps and potential obstacles toward electronic transmission of prescription drug data.”
Estimates of active-duty drug use are stunning: A 2010 Army study found that 14 percent of soldiers had been prescribed an opiate painkiller, with 95 percent of those prescriptions for oxycodone, a notoriously addictive pharmaceutical best known by the brand name OxyContin.
And since 2001, military spending on prescription meds has skyrocketed. Orders for antipsychotics like Seroquel are up 200 percent, and demand for anti-anxiety drugs like Valium has increased by 170 percent, according to Defense Logistics Agency records.
This is not the first time Congress has urged the Pentagon to do better when it comes to drug data. Last year, the Senate Armed Services Committee derided the military for its inability to offer hard numbers on prescription medication.
Many of the antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs and anti-anxiety drugs prescribed are highly addictive. Potential side effects include dulled reaction times, irritability and a heightened risk of suicide.
“The medications they use shouldn’t be so heavily prescribed in combat,” Dr. Judith Broder, a psychiatrist and founder of the Soldiers Project, a nonprofit counseling service, told The Daily.
“But they can’t afford to send anyone home. They need the bodies — health and welfare are secondary.”
Side effects are hardly the only problem: Without a tracking system, troops can readily abuse medications and even share and swap.
“They’ll often have a medicine cabinet full of drugs, and they’ll pass them around,” Broder said. “That this isn’t being tracked is terrible. Absolutely terrible.”
Whether or not the military tracks prescriptions, there’s no easy answer to managing mental health in combat, said Dr. Frank Ochberg, an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder and the former associate director for the National Institute of Mental Health.
“Of course it makes good sense to track prescriptions, but without access to these drugs, what’s a soldier’s plan B?” Ochberg said. “It’s alcohol, and that’s certainly not good.”
Another problem for the military: The drugs that can impair performance or trigger addiction and overdose are also the best way to keep ailing service members patched up.
“There’s the ethical question: Should there be any combat participant taking antidepressants or psychotropics?” Ochberg said. “And then the practical matter, that it’s simply imperative for a troop to be able to function, to wind down or even just to get a good night’s sleep.”
BY THE NUMBERS
$16 million
The amount the Department of Defense spent on antipsychotic drugs, such as Seroquel, in 2009 — a 200 percent increase from 2001.
17 percent
The share of active-duty troops taking antidepressants, according to estimates released by the Army last year.
25-35 percent
The share of wounded soldiers who are addicted to prescription and illegal drugs while they await medical discharge.
180 days
The length of some prescriptions — including antipsychotics and narcotics — handed out by battlefield doctors, along with a 180-day refill.
73 percent
The share of accidental deaths in the Army attributed to prescription medications in 2010.
Katie.Drummond@thedaily.com
