Lawsuit claims disabled veteran killed by excessive painkillers

VA hospital killed former soldier with excessive painkillers, lawsuit says
By Dennis Rombo
Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 17 2012

SALT LAKE CITY — Former soldier Gregory Lee Smith just wanted doctors at Veterans Affairs Medical Center to fix his chronic back problems so he could become a police officer. But, his parents say, they killed him with an excessive amount of painkillers after surgery two years ago.

Gregory Lynn Smith and Jeri Bolinder blame the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the death of their 30-year-old son in a federal lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City this week.

Smith and Bolinder say the loss devastated them.

"Greg is in (his father's) heart and mind all the time. He actually finds himself telling himself that he needs to think of something else," the lawsuit says. "(He) will never see Greg in his police uniform, 'serving and protecting' again, as he swore to do as a soldier.

"Jeri lies awake at night and cries because her heart aches to see, touch and hold her son again," according to the suit. "She sees his beautiful face in her dreams and wakes to the reality that she will never hold him again."
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