VA fails to track cause of veterans deaths

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A six-month investigation by the Austin American-Statesman of Texas’ Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who died after leaving the military found an alarmingly high percentage died from prescription drug overdoses, toxic drug combinations, suicide and single car crashes — a largely unseen pattern of early death that federal authorities are failing to adequately track.

Last month, Veterans Affairs officials in Dayton said multiple deployments, a tough economy and a rise in post-traumatic stress added to an alarming increase in suicides among local service members and veterans. The Dayton VA recorded 19 suicide attempts and two deaths within the past year.

In the Dayton Daily News investigation, Larry James, dean of the Wright State University School of Psychology, predicted post-traumatic stress disorder will be to this generation what HIV/AIDs was in the ’70s and ’80s. “I’m very worried about it,” he said. “If people think that PTSD was a challenge in the post-Vietnam era, just wait.”

Read more at daytondailynews.com.