WASHINGTON, DC (WSAU-WXPR) — US Senator Tammy Baldwin is teaming up with Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska to introduce a bill calling on the VA to conduct a deep-dive investigation into the possible impacts of over-medication on Veteran suicide rates.
“The idea is we need accurate information about the relationship between veterans’ suicides and prescription medication to enable the VA moving forward to continue to improve it’s best practices and best treatment,” Baldwin tells WXPR Radio in Rhinelander.
The study would also include data on Veterans who died from accidental overdoses as well.
She says that data will allow the organization to determine how to best solve the issue. “Turning that around in a permanent way requires us to get the best research and understanding about the key causes of veterans suicide, including learning the extent of how overmedication of prescription drugs is contributing to suicide-related deaths.”
Baldwin and others have called the issue an “epidemic.” As many as 20 Veterans end their own lives each day. A recent study showed that between 2007 and 2018 over 60,000 Vets died by suicide.
She originally began work on the bill with the late Senator John McCain of Arizona. Sullivan recently signed on to the measure to help push it forward.
