SUICIDES AMONG VETERANS NOT SUICIDES AT ALL? DEATH BY PRESCRIPTION!

Psychotropic Drug-Induced Sudden Deaths in Iraq War Veterans:

Deadly Combination of Seroquel, Paxil and Klonopin Involved
AND THEY'VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS! 
"'Psychoactive drugs have been associated with arrhythmia for 40 years.'" 
MANY APPARENT SUICIDES COULD HAVE BEEN FROM SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH!
[UPDATE TO : "NATIONAL CRISIS ~ SUICIDES AMONG VETERANS. IN THEIR OWN WORDS", http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/07/national-crisis-suicides-among-veterans.html ]

Published in the Marine Corps Times
5-26-10

EL CAJON, CA (PRNewswire) -- Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army.

Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets Taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Drugs Die in Sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different."  And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg."

Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not "overdose" leading to coma as suggested by the military.  All were diagnosed with PTSD.  All seemed "normal" when they went to bed.  And, all were on Seroquel (an antipsychotic) Paxil (an antidepressant) and Klonopin (a benzodiazepine).  

They were not comatose and unarousable - with pulse and respirations or pulse intact, responsive to CPR, surviving transport to a hospital, frequently surviving. 
These were sudden cardiac deaths.

At the time, Stan White, father of Andrew White knew of eight such cases in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

In a February 7, 2008 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general, said there has been "a series, a sequence of deaths" in the new "warrior transition units."

In April 2005, the FDA warned that Seroquel put elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis at increased risk of death.

On January 15, 2009, Ray et al, reported that antipsychotics double the risk of sudden cardiac death. On March 17, 2009, Whang et al reported that antidepressants, as well, increase the rate of sudden cardiac deaths.

And yet, in an August 14, 2008 analysis of two of the four Charleston-area deaths, the Inspector General for Veterans Affairs concluded (Report No. 08-01377-185): "Although antipsychotic medications have been identified as possible causes of cardiac rhythm disturbances, a 2001 review...found no association with olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), or risperidone (Risperdal) and Torsades de Pointes (a fatal heart rhythm) or sudden death... we are unaware of any clinical practice guidelines recommending baseline or periodic electrocardiogram monitoring in young, healthy patients on quetiapine (Seroquel)."

However, in a literature review covering the years 2000-2007, entitled Sudden Cardiac Death Secondary to Antidepressant and Antipsychotic Drugs: [Expert Opinion on Drug Safety; 2008, Number 2, March 2008 , pp. 181-194(14)] Sicouri and Antzelevitch conclude: (1) "A number of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs can increase the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death" (2) "Antipsychotics can increase cardiac risk even at low doses whereas antidepressants do it generally at high doses or in the setting of drug combinations," and (3) "These observations call foran ECG at baseline and after drug administration."  

This March 2008 article and the entire 2000-2007 medical literature it reviews was available to the Inspector General had they chosen not to ignore it.

On April 13, 2009, I wrote the Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) pressing him about his "sequence of deaths" statement and the existence of a definitive analysis of these sudden deaths. Four days later the OTSG responded: "The assessment is still pending and has not been released yet."

As of today, May 24, 1010, veteran's wife, Diane VandeBurgt had "Googled" 128 (one hundred twenty eight) such veteran's deaths: "dead in barracks," "in bed," "at work station." Dead!  None in a coma.  

In her article Nearly 70 soldiers died in WTUs' first 16 months by Gina Cavallaro, Army Times, February 1, 2009 - the public heard a major "slip of the tongue" by Army officialdom: "More than 70 soldiers have died while assigned to one of the Army's 36 WTUs, but suicide is not the leading cause." Of those, nine (13%) were ruled suicides; six (9%) were pending investigation; 13 (19%) were killed in accidents; and 35 (50%) were from "natural causes." "Natural causes" in 20 year-olds? "We do have warriors in transition who have died of cancer. There have also been heart attacks," said WCTO (Warrior Transition Command) spokesman Robert Moore.

How many "heart attacks?"  Neither Cavallaro or Moore returned my calls.

On April 22, 2010 I anonymously received "SIRS (Serious Incident Reports) 10/03/09-3/7/10/." In it were listed: Total ARNG (Army National Guard) "Accident Fatalities--20; Suicide--32 (6 confirmed 12 pending); Combat--8; Illness caused--23; Other deaths--10; Total--93.  Among the listed: 10/19/09-"illness heart attack"; 10/28/09-"illness cardiac arrest"; 11/10/09-"other found dead"; 11/14/09-"other found dead"; 11/28/09-"illness heart attack"; 12/26/09-"illness heart attack"; 1/2/10-"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/7/10-"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/9/10-"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/3/10-"illness cardiac arrest."; 2/10/10-"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/21/10-"illness heart attack." Here we have 13 of 93 (14%) definite or probable sudden cardiac deaths.

Like the four Charleston-area veterans, Pfc. Ryan Alderman was also on a never-justifiable cocktail of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs when he was found dead in his barracks at Ft. Carson, Colo.  Sudden cardiac death was confirmed by EKG by emergency medical technicians at the scene, but reclassified as "suicide." Why? By whom?  

The soldiers, veterans, their families and nation await the truth about this epidemic of antipsychotic-antidepressant, sudden cardiac deaths in the military.

SOURCE Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD, as reported here: http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals/20090519/LA1917419052009-1.html, which can also be found archived here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090523235223/http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals/20090519/LA1917419052009-1.html

A SIMILAR MENTION WITH SEVERAL OTHER LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/514/9/

Sudden cardiac death is not the only dose-related, potentially lethal cardiovascular risk linked to the atypicals.  The drugs interfere with normal metabolic function inducing a cascade of life-threatening risks which increase mortality among users.

A meta-analysis of 37 studies in the Archives of General Psychiatry (2007) [1] documented a widening gap in the standardized mortality rate between patients with schizophrenia and the general population.  The authors suggest that the mortality rate they calculated “captures only a fraction of the eventual burden of mortality associated with the adverse effect profile of the second generation antipsychotic medications.”

They found:

“compared with typical antipsychotics, several of the second-generation antipsychotics are more likely to cause weight gain and metabolic syndrome. Because the metabolic syndrome is associated with a 2-to 3-fold increase in cardiovascular mortality and a 2-fold increase in all-cause mortality, these adverse effects would be expected to contribute to even higher mortality rates in the next few decades.” 

ARE YOU BEGINNING TO SEE THE CONNECTION?

WORLD'S DEADLIEST PILL?

http://www.thefix.com/content/worlds-most-dangerous-drug?page=all
When it comes to prescription drugs that are not only able to kill you but can drag out the final reckoning for years on end, with worsening misery at every step of the way, it is hard to top the benzodiazepines. And no "benzo" has been more lethal to millions of Americans than a popular prescription drug called Klonopin.
Others have described Klonopin’s effects as beginning with an energized sense of euphoria but ending up with horrifying sense of anxiety and paralysis, akin to  sticking your tongue into an electric outlet, or suddenly feeling that your brain is on fire.Along with Klonopin, here are the three other benzos that, by general agreement, have made it into the top ranks of the world’s worst and most widely abused drugs: temazepam, alprazolam, and lorazepam.
Temazepam: Sold in the U.S. under the brand name Restoril
Alprazolam: Brand name Xanax, this benzo now accounts for as many as 60% of all hospital admissions for drug addiction, according to some research. What’s more, violent and psychotic responses to Xanax are not limited to humans.
Lorazepam: Brand name Ativan (related to VALIUM!), this drug has figured in an array of well-publicized homicides and suicides by those using it.
http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/12/1/35.full  

Psychopharmaceuticals and arrhythmias
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15137522  
Psychoactive drugs have been associated with arrhythmia for 40 years.
<<Torsades de pointes was originally seen in patients with pre-existing heart disease or with intoxication. Now, there is increasing awareness that drugs used for non-antiarrhythmic and non-cardiovascular indications can exert significant effects on repolarisation and may cause ventricular tachycardia. Most of the drugs that prolong the QT-interval incorporate blockade of the potassium channel Ikr in their spectrum. Among psychotrophic drugs the low-potency phenothiazines have most often been implicated, particularly thioridazine.
Drugs acting as class I antiarrhythmics such as tricyclic antidepressants are not recommended after myocardial infarction. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors seem to be safe. Patients with a prolonged QT-interval or patients that experienced Torsade de pointes are at a considerable higher risk upon exposition to a QT-prolonging drug. Drug interactions played a role in many fatalities with QT-prolonging drugs and are important.>>  

I COULD LIST STUDIES HERE ALL DAY AND NOT RUN OUT OF THEM, CITE MEDICAL RESEARCH FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN.
INDIVIDUAL DRUGS CARRY THE SAME DANGER AS 'COCKTAILS'! 

"FDA Adds Heart Warning For Seroquel" , http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/07/19/fda-warning-seroquel/13557/ , July 19, 2011  

June 14, 2012, "AstraZeneca - Seroquel - Army Apologizes for Seroquel Death" , http://seroquellawsuitblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/astrazeneca-seroquel-army-apoligizes.html   

THE EVIDENCE IS OVERWHELMING.WHY THE V.A. WOULD HAND OUT THESE DRUGS KNOWING THEIR DANGER, AND ESPECIALLY WHY THEY DO IT AFTER THE PAST 3 "MASS MURDERERS", AS WELL AS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, HAVE ALL BEEN ON SUCH DRUGS, IS ANYONE'S GUESS.
OUR RETURNING VETS NEED TO BE AWARE OF THESE FINDINGS SO THEY CAN DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO RISK THE SIDE EFFECTS.
INFORMED CONSENT IS WHAT THE V.A. SHOULD AIM FOR, AND THEN MAYBE WE'D HEAR OF FEWER "SUICIDES" BY OUR MILITARY AND FEWER INCIDENTS LIKE WHAT JUST HAPPENED AT THE NAVY SHIPYARD IN WASHINGTON D.C.