{"id":5871,"date":"2017-12-11T18:07:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T23:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5871"},"modified":"2018-03-20T10:45:04","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T14:45:04","slug":"vern-buchanan-backs-mike-coffmans-veterans-overmedication-prevention-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5871","title":{"rendered":"Vern Buchanan Backs Mike Coffman’s Veterans Overmedication Prevention Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Vern Buchanan Backs Mike Coffman’s Veterans Overmedication Prevention Act<\/h1>\n
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By<\/p>\n

KEVIN DERBY<\/a> December 11, 2017 – 12:45pm<\/span><\/div>\n
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With 20 veterans killing themselves each day, a Florida congressman has thrown his support to a bill studying the link between painkillers and veteran suicides.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., announced on Monday that he was supporting U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman\u2019s, R-Col., \u201cVeterans Overmedication Prevention Act.\u201d The bill directs the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to study the deaths of every veteran who committed suicide or died by overdosing in the last five years. The legislation would also make the VA examine\u00a0\u201cany medications that carried a black box warning, were prescribed for off-label use, were psychotropic, or carried warnings that include suicidal ideation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buchanan weighed in on Monday why he was backing the bill. His office noted on Monday that 20 percent of all suicides in the US are committed by veterans and noted the continued opioid problems plaguing the Sunshine State.<\/div>\n
\u201cThe high rates of suicide and drug overdose deaths in the veteran community are unacceptable,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cThis legislation is critical to learning if prescription drugs, specifically opioid painkillers, are a contributing factor in suicide-related deaths among veterans.\u201d<\/div>\n
Buchanan is the first cosponsor of the bill from Florida. So far, more than a dozen other members of Congress are cosponsoring the bill including Republican U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman of Michigan and Mike Bost of Illinois and Democrats U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Beto O\u2019Rourke of Texas. Moulton is the main cosponsor.<\/div>\n
\u201cToday an average of 20 veterans die every day from suicide, this is unacceptable,” Coffman said when he brought the bill out at the end of May. \u201cThis bill will enable us to better identify the links between prescription drugs overdoses and veterans\u2019 suicide. The VA\u2019s drug-centric culture is not only something we are looking to change, but also we seek to better understand this growing epidemic of opioid use.\u00a0 Our goal is to ultimately avoid veterans\u2019\u00a0 and their families\u2019 unnecessary suffering.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOur veterans deserve the best health-care in the world – period,” Moulton said. \u201cThis bill will help us tackle the overmedication of veterans and help prevent veteran suicides. Opioid addiction is something that affects many communities, and unfortunately the veteran community is impacted in disproportionate ways. I am proud to lead on this bipartisan effort to help get those who served our country what they earned and what they deserve.\u201d<\/div>\n
The bill is currently before the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.<\/div>\n
Over in the Senate, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sponsored a similar bill.<\/div>\n
\u201cI thank Representatives Coffman and Moulton for introducing this bipartisan companion legislation in the House of Representatives to address the scandal of veterans\u2019 suicide, which claims the lives of 20 veterans each day,\u201d McCain said when the bill was unveiled in the House. \u201cCombating this epidemic will require the best research and understanding about the key causes of veteran suicide, including whether overmedication of drugs, such as opioid painkillers, is a contributing factor in suicide-related deaths. We have a long way to go to eradicate veteran suicide, but our legislation is a step in the right direction.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Retrieved from: http:\/\/sunshinestatenews.com\/story\/vern-buchanan-backs-mike-coffmans-veterans-overmedication-prevention-act<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vern Buchanan Backs Mike Coffman’s Veterans Overmedication Prevention Act By KEVIN DERBY December 11, 2017 – 12:45pm With 20 veterans killing themselves each day, a Florida congressman has thrown his support to a bill studying the link between painkillers and veteran suicides. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., announced on Monday …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}