‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs
‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs
Mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects, an investigation by ABC News and The Washington Times has found.
In one of the human experiments, involving the anti-smoking drug Chantix, Veterans Administration doctors waited more than three months before warning veterans about the possible serious side effects, including suicide and neuropsychiatric behavior.
“Lab rat, guinea pig, disposable hero,” said former US Army sniper James Elliott in describing how he felt he was betrayed by the Veterans Administration.
Veterans groups are also expressing their anger over the study. The executive director of Veterans for Common Sense said that this is yet another example of the VA failing America’s veterans.
“VA should have done a better job protecting the human rights of our veterans,” said Paul Sullivan of VCS.
“While VCS supports research to assist veterans, VA must bear a heavy burden of responsibility with these experiments on veterans diagnosed with PTSD,” said Sullivan, who is also calling for an immediate suspension of the study.
View the ABC Investigative Report here
Click here to read the Washington Times coverage of “Disposable Heroes”
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner provided the following statement on reports that reveal that veterans are being recruited for VA tests on drugs with violent side effects:
“Today’s news report that the VA is conducting experimental drug tests on our veterans is appalling.
“Once the FDA issued the warning that it had received reports linking Chantix to suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior, the VA should have immediately suspended this study and notified participants of the possible dangers. Instead, the VA took more than three months to notify patients and they did so in bureaucratese that did not clearly state the side effects of the drug.
“There were only 940 veterans in this study. Why didn’t the VA just call them and bring them in immediately?!
“The VA must immediately suspend this study until a comprehensive review of the safety of the protocol is conducted.”
