Heath Ledger Death Spawns Warrior Transition Unit OD Investigation

Army: Accidental ODs under investigation

By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 7, 2008 17:12:44 EST

WASHINGTON — The Army’s top doctor, noting the drug overdose death of actor Heath Ledger, said Thursday the military is investigating a series of suspected similar deaths among wounded and injured soldiers.

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army’s surgeon general, said there has been “a series, a sequence of deaths” in the new so-called “warrior transition units.” Those are special units set up last year to give sick, injured and war-wounded troops coordinated medical care, financial advice, legal help and other services as they transition toward either a return to uniform or back into civilian life.

Without giving a number, Schoomaker said the deaths among the convalescing troops were “accidental deaths, we believe, often as a consequence of the use of multiple prescription and nonprescription medicines and alcohol.”

“This isn’t restricted to the military, alone, as we all saw the unfortunate death of one of our leading actors recently,” he said.

The New York medical examiner announced Wednesday that Ledger, the 28-year-old “Brokeback Mountain” star, died Jan. 22 from the effects of taking six types of painkillers and sedatives.

Schoomaker said he didn’t know whether the number of overdoses among soldiers was on the rise. But the series of deaths was noticed and is getting attention partly because the new units concentrate the Army’s temporarily disabled and ill into special groups, thus making it possible for leaders to track and tabulate their health issues more closely and carefully than ever before.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_armyoverdoses_080207/