Veteran Committed Suicide After Zoloft

Grieving Father: VA Isn’t Doing Enough To Prevent Vet Suicides
CBS Pittsburgh
Andy Sheehan
KDKA-TV Investigator
April 23, 2015

(Photo Credit: KDKA) 

PITTSBURGH

(KDKA) — His son survived the war, but lost the battle at home.

“Everything seemed to be well with David, going his way and then all of a sudden this drops out of the sky, like an anvil hits you on the top of the head,” said Bob Cranmer.

Just last month Iraq war veteran David Cranmer joined the growing ranks of US veterans who have committed suicide. His father is former Allegheny County Commissioner Bob Cranmer.

“Twenty-two suicides a day,” said Cranmer, “that’s a crisis.”

He thinks vets suffering from PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder — are not getting the treatment they need and deserve from the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

“It’s gone beyond, with me anyway, the tragedy of my own son,” said Cranmer, “to many, many other veterans that are out there, like him who are just being given medication by the VA and pushed out the door.”

David Cranmer enlisted in the marines and served in a forward area of Iraq. He returned home to meet and marry a young woman, they bought a house and had a daughter who is now 5 years old.

But recent stresses led him to a VA therapist — who after one session prescribed the psychotropic drug Zoloft. 

It carries an FDA warning that it can sometimes lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. A month later — David Cranmer hung himself.

“He had some marital issues,” said Cranmer. “Nothing that I think rose to the level of committing suicide, but when you add to that mix this, what I feel is a very dangerous drug.” “We don’t have a proven medication or a proven therapy that we know will prevent suicide, but we’re trying,” said David Macpherson.
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Seriously? They don't have enough information? After all these years?

Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 were on Prozac or Zoloft Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 took psychotropic drugs like Prozac and Zoloft.

The military’s invisible wounds
by David Isenberg
August 4th, 2008

Yesterday I was a panelist on a television program talking about the rising number of suicides and suicide attempts in the American military.

Being a veteran myself, and having acted as a veteran’s advocate in my undergraduate days vets issues have always been of special interest to me. So let me summarize some of the facts that you may be unfamiliar with.

Currently, many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from invisible wounds. As in previous wars, service members can leave a war zone, but the war often follows them in their minds.

Numbers are always iffy but according to a RAND study released in April, nearly one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. It estimated that 830,000 veterans - 300,000 of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan - suffer from depression or PTSD symptoms.

I checked the link to the story and it is still active. You can read more of Military's Invisible Wounds here
There are a lot more reports on this and what the VA should have known. By the way Congress knew.