Help veterans overcome the battle within

To the Editor:

"A deadly mixture: overwhelmed by veterans and handfuls of prescription medications" (cover story, February 13) presents a complex issue that surrounds our population of military veterans.

Improvements in armor and battlefield medicine have allowed thousands of soldiers to survive traumatic combat injuries, but many face a lifetime of physical pain and the invisible wounds such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

While all drugs have risks, prescription medications to manage the physical and psychological pain can be effective in function of improving and restoring the quality of life when properly prescribed and taken as directed. When there are no prescribed medications, or if there is no known history of the medicina-uso of a person for the authorized physician, the results can be tragic.

Along with medications can improve your health, returning soldiers need an education appropriate on the use of these medications safely. An open dialogue between the soldier and his provider of health care is an essential component of a secure, individualized treatment plan.

Perry g. fine
Salt Lake City, February 16, 2011

The writer is a Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah, school of medicine.

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To the Editor:

The article highlighted the plight of our veterans who face psychological conditions related to their service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These conditions are just as real as any physical injuries, and it must be recognized to grant soldiers who suffer traumatic brain injury or disorder by post-traumatic stress disorder purple heart.

Many of our veterans are taking the field with them. These veterans are injuries to prisoners of war who dealt often invisible. We do not have enough therapists to care for them all, and as shown in his article, the medications we use to treat them are insufficient in the best and potentially deadly at worst.

There is more to us, as nation can do to help our military personnel suffering from neurological disorders. Even in an era of tight budgets, we must increase our commitment to the research of the brain to help our veterans fully return home from the battlefield.

I have announced a new organization - 1Mind4Research - dedicated to supporting research through the political process. This national initiative, not partisan aims to break down science barriers and funding for this critical research on disorders of the brain. We put scientific attention to this issue to the Moon equal shot effort initiated by President John f. Kennedy, my uncle, half a century ago. We can not rest until that all our veterans home not only the body but also present.

Patrick J. Kennedy.
Washington, February 15, 2011

The writer is a former member of the Congress of Rhode Island and the author of the 2008 Mental health parity and Addiction Equity Act.

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To the Editor:

Improving education about drugs and monitoring practices for our troops, while critical, are only a first step to avoid the kinds of tragedies that describes the article.

The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to adopt policies of comprehensive prevention overdose, including dispensers naloxone, an antidote to the overdose - directly to service people who are prescribed drugs and their families. In this way, we can help save the lives of those who have risked to his own on the battlefield.

Drug replacement therapies must also be made available for soldiers and veterans who depend on painkillers. Drugs such as methadone and buprenorphine are the most effective means of treatment of opioid dependence, but are underutilized in the V.A. and coverage prohibited outright military insurance, although they could help thousands of veterans and troops today.

In addition, veterans suffering from pain and post-traumatic stress disorder can best respond to medical marijuana. This safe and effective medication should be available to all veterans who need it.

Daniel Robelo
Berkeley, California, on February 14, 2011

The writer, an associate researcher at the drug policy Alliance, is co-author of the report "healing a broken system: Veterans Battling addiction and incarceration."