Release: Sens. Collins, Blumenthal Ensure Servicemembers And Veterans Have Access To Program To Combat Suicide
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Department of Justice issued a new Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulation that includes provisions for which U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have long fought for on behalf of servicemembers and veterans. The Senators have led a consistent, bipartisan effort to ensure that the new rule will allow Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities to participate in prescription drug take-back programs that help combat misuse or abuse of prescription drugs. The provisions in this rule will also help to combat troubling instances of servicemember and veteran suicide that commonly are linked to prescription drug misuse.
“Prescription drug misuse poses a serious threat to public health, and there is substantial evidence that prescription drug abuse is a major factor in many military and veteran suicides,” Senator Collins said. “This rule finally gives the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs the ability to participate in the DEA’s drug take-back program. By simply giving our servicemembers and veterans access to facilities where they can dispose of prescriptions that are no longer needed, we can help save lives.”
“Today, the Obama Administration took a crucial step in the fight against prescription drug abuse,” Senator Blumenthal said. “For too long, federal rules actually contributed to the risk of abuse—particularly by servicemembers and veterans. For too long, veterans advocates, colleagues including Sen. Collins, and I have felt like voices in the wilderness calling for commonsense changes that we knew could save lives and protect American heroes from the misery that comes with drug abuse. Those voices became a chorus too loud to be ignored, and today I am proud that the Administration has done the right thing.”
"IAVA applauds Senators Collins and Blumenthal for their persistent advocacy to ensure that the Administration includes DoD and VA in efforts to help reduce suicide among troops and veterans by expanding prescription drug take back programs. IAVA is excited to see this expansion and commends the works of all those involved in ensuring that this change could happen."
In July, Senators Collins and Blumenthal, joined by a bipartisan group of 22 senators, pressed the Administration to release the final rule. Senator Collins secured report language accompanying the FY 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act that encouraged the Department of Justice to consult with the DoD and VA to expand safe prescription drug disposal for servicemembers and veterans, and Senators Collins and Blumenthal secured language in the report accompanying the FY 2014 NDAA, which emphasized the importance of establishing drug take-back programs at DoD and VA.
The regulation would allow pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other authorized collectors to serve as collection points for unused prescription medication. A February 2014 report by the DoD Inspector General found that many servicemembers, including high-risk patients such as wounded warriors, do not have a reliable, safe, accessible, and accountable method to dispose of medications. As a result, many may be at risk for overdose or misuse of unneeded medications that could result in unnecessary hospitalization and even death. The DoD Inspector General further found that, of the 1,000 service members hospitalized for self-inflicted pharmaceutical overdoses in 2010, more than 65 percent involved pain and behavioral health medication.
