Miami VA hospital rationing medical masks...but USAID sent them overseas?

Report: Federal Agency Shipped Face Masks Overseas as Veterans Affairs Hospital Rationed Them

National Review
By MAIREAD MCARDLE
April 3, 2020

A federal agency reportedly shipped face masks overseas from a Miami warehouse even as a nearby Veterans Affairs hospital was rationing them due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Boxes of N95 protective masks for use by medical field personnel in New Rochelle, New York, March 17, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had a warehouse of face masks sitting unused in Miami while a Veterans Affairs hospital in the city was telling its health care workers to use the same face mask for an entire week, Fox News reported.

Later, USAID exported the masks overseas. Since then, however, the administration has reportedly halted USAID shipments of personal protective equipment out of the country.
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Millennial veterans and service members buying in Florida

South Florida is a top home buyer’s market for millennial veterans, study finds

SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
By JOHNNY DIAZ
JUL 24, 2019

"South Florida has a lot to offer veterans and military families, from cultural and lifestyle amenities to a strong economy with relatively low unemployment,'' said Chris Birk, director of education at Veterans United Home Loans.

FILE - In this July 22, 2015 file photo, a "sold" sign is posted outside a Harbor Beach neighborhood home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Standard & Poor’s releases its 20-city home price index for August on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) (The Associated Press)

Millennial veterans and service members looking to put down some roots are keen on South Florida.

A new study found that the Miami-Fort-Lauderdale-Pompano-Beach metro area ranked No. 6 nationally in the number of millennial veterans purchasing homes. That’s according to an analysis by Veterans United Home Loans, which defined millennial veterans or service members as people who were born between 1981 and 1996.
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World War II veteran James Pepe, hero among us

Heroes Among Us: Navy Veteran James Pepe Helped Many Wounded Soldiers During World War II

CBS 4 News
By Marybel Rodriguez
July 12, 2019

U.S. Navy World War II veteran Jimmy Pepe was awarded the bronze star for his service. He was recently honored at a Florida Panthers game.

SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – Now to a weekly segment you will only see right here on CBS4.

Every Friday, in partnership with the Florida Panthers, we put the spotlight on a hero among us men or women who have gone beyond the call of duty for our country.

This week we’re meeting World War II veteran James Pepe.

James Pepe, who goes by Jimmy, served in the United States Navy as a pharmacist from 1943 to 1945. He enlisted and was part of the new Georgia-Rendova-Vanganu Campaign.

Pepe’s job was to take care of the wounded and although he says they were under very stressful conditions he did whatever he had to do save lives.
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Miami Gardens Police Officer found dead

Officer dies in reported suicide

Miami Times
March 14, 2019

Officer dies in reported suicide

Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a home near 3800 Block of NW 201 Terrence in reference to an apparent suicide. The victim was pronounced dead by Fire Rescue on the scene. An investigation revealed that the victim was discovered unresponsive by his wife. 

The victim is employed as an officer with a “South Florida law enforcement agency,” according to Miami Gardens Police. 

The victim’s name is being withheld pending complete notification of next-of-kin. The victim was transported to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office for a post mortem examination to determine the cause and manner of death.

Two Golden Knights still in critical condition

Two Golden Knights still hospitalized after Army parachuting accident

Army Times
Meghann Myers
February 15, 2019

Two members of the U.S. Army Parachute Team remain in critical condition after a training accident early Tuesday morning that sent three to a Miami hospital.

A member of the Golden Knights lands during a demonstration jump at the African Aerospace and Defence Exposition at Waterkloof Air Force Base, Pretoria, South Africa on Sept. 18, 2014. (Staff Sgt. Patricia Austin/Army)

One of the three has since been released from Jackson Memorial hospital, Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman Kelli Bland told Army Times on Friday.

That soldier was upgraded to fair condition on Thursday before being released, she said.
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Baird Asher from Air Force, to homeless veteran, to discovered artist

Homeless Air Force veteran and street artist receives national attention after stranger buys his work

ABC 13 NEWS

Deborah Wrigley

October 11, 2018

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As cars travel over a creek on a Katy Freeway service road, yards beneath out of view, a homeless vet applies paint to plywood, creating art.

It is where Baird Asher has lived for two months after he caught a ride to Houston from New Orleans, where he was a street artist. As an Air Force veteran who was an aircraft mechanic, "I can put an engine together," he said, but his real calling is his art.

"I'm an artist, and this is what I do," he said. "I don't necessarily refuse to do anything else, but this is what God gave me the talent to do."

Technically, Asher is homeless.

"I live under a highway bridge," he said with a laugh. But he needed the kindness of strangers to eat.

Two days ago, he was standing at an intersection with a sign that read, "Hungry Vet." That caught the eye of Suzanne Coppola, who was stopped at the light. At his feet was one of his paintings. It got Coppola's attention.

"I parked illegally and talked to him," she said. "He had an amazing story, and he's an amazing artist and I put it on my Facebook page, asking the creative community if we could do something for him."

The response amazed Coppola.

"I have artists contacting me about ideas they have for him, and a gallery owner from Dallas, who also has a gallery in Miami, asked to buy all his paintings," she said.
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Fake Service Dogs hurting those who need real ones

PTSD Sufferer Says Increasingly Businesses Are Saying No To Service Animals
CBS Miami
By Lauren Pastrana
October 5, 2018

“We’re being hurt. We’re truly being hurt by those not following these regulations and laws that are in place to protect us.”  Eduardo Dieguez

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Eduardo Dieguez believes in second chances, for himself and for his four-legged friends.

“If it wasn’t for one of these guys,” Dieguez says referring to his dog, “I wouldn’t be around.”

With the help of Paws 4 You Rescue, Dieguez trains shelter dogs to be service animals.

“We’re giving them a role to play in somebody’s health,” he said.

He doesn’t just train them, he needs one, as well.

Dieguez suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“My PTSD stems from abuse when I was a young child,” Dieguez said.

Add in military service and more than a decade as a law enforcement officer, and Dieguez says he knew he needed help.

“That just intensified my fight or flight. And it usually went to fight. Dogs were the only thing that helped bring me down from all that fear and anxiety that I had,” Dieguez explained.

But Dieguez says it’s getting tougher to take his service animal with him in to public places.

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Veteran died after SWAT standoff,,and 1 day in VA Hospital?

Exclusive: Hollywood Man Killed In Standoff With Police Suffered From PTSD
CBS Miami
August 9, 2018

Hudson said he was taken to Memorial Hospital in Hollywood then transferred to the VA in West Palm Beach. “On the day that, that happened, he was only in there for a day and they released him. So now, I have to find out why did you guys release him and then six hours later he’s dead.”

HOLLYWOOD (CBS4MIAMI —- The man shot and killed during a police standoff early Wednesday morning suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), his girlfriend said.

Andrea Hudson said she and her boyfriend Leu Freycinet, 52, a decorated military veteran, bought their home in Hollywood back in March.

She told CBS4 in an exclusive interview, that they were planning on getting married in Dubai in three months.

However, over the last few months, things took an unexpected turn. Hudson said Freycinet started having flashbacks from his time as a U.S. Marine.

She said, “He was just saying stuff like ‘the world is coming to an end… you guys don’t see what I see.’”

“He’s just gone,” she continued. He didn’t want to be called Leu anymore, he wanted to be called Jello.”

For Hudson, Freycinet’s constant and so-called fits took a toll on their relationship. She said he was taking a dozen pills, four times a day for depression and was seeing a therapist.
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Home Sellers Turning Down VA Mortgages For Veterans?

Few Homes Available to Armed Forces Veterans
NBC News Miami
By Tony Pipitone
September 23, 2016

“The bad news is that a lot real estate professionals don’t know what is a great program.” David Kurz

Chris and Martyka Myers thought they’d found the perfect home.

“I was wowed by it. I walked to the backyard and a big wonderful pool in the back and the house was just beautiful,” Chris Myers said.

The couple says the price was high, but the sellers were willing to drop down the price to $379,000. “But as soon as I told them about the VA loan -- that portion of the talk -- they basically shut down the conversation at that point,” Myers said.

Members of the Armed Forces, veterans – like Chris Myers – and their families make many sacrifices while serving here and abroad. That’s why in 1944, the U.S. government created a military loan guaranty program to help returning service members purchase homes. The program gives big breaks on fees and down payments to veterans.

But the NBC 6 Investigators found out that four of every five home sellers in Miami-Dade area say they will not consider Veterans Administration financing – closing the door to veterans, if they want to use the benefits the government says they deserve.
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Ryan Goggin in the Fight For His Life

Army veteran battles to fund cancer treatment
ABC 10 News Miami
By Amy Viteri - Investigative Reporter
Posted: June 21, 2016

"I wasn't scared in the Army. I wasn't scared in Iraq," Ryan Goggin said. "I wasn't scared. But when they told me I had leukemia, I was scared." Ryan Goggin

MIAMI - An Army veteran who served in Iraq found an even bigger battle back in the United States, trying to get the Veterans Health Administration to fund his cancer treatment.

"I wasn't scared in the Army. I wasn't scared in Iraq," Ryan Goggin said. "I wasn't scared. But when they told me I had leukemia, I was scared."

Goggin served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army.


In March, 2010 he was 10 months into a deployment in Iraq when a roadside bomb hit his truck. A traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder ended his military career.

Goggin, 29, was healthy and active, until January. He suddenly became so weak paramedics rushed him to the Miami VA hospital. From there he went to the University of Miami Hospital for further testing. The diagnosis was acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, a type of blood cancer.

He began chemotherapy at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and said officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs initially told him they would work to cover his full treatment there.
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Third Marine Attacked--Hate Crime

Marine Corps veteran says he became target of hate crime
ABC 6 News
BY LISA RANTALA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH 2016

COLUMBUS — A Marine Corps veteran says he became a random target in the Short North and police are consulting with prosecutors to determine if the case is a hate crime.

Grant Gray enlisted in the Marines in 2011 and served seven months in Afghanistan last year.

"My job in the Marine Corps was the 7-51. It's aircraft rescue and firefighting," Gray told ABC 6/FOX 28 from his home near Lima. "Pretty much rescuing downed pilots when they crash."

He's now studying sports management at Miami University and has been thinking about transferring to OSU for business. He came here to Columbus out homes and apartments Friday.

But he says rather than finding support, he was the recipient of hate. "I don't remember too much because I have a pretty severe concussion," Gray said.
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Linked from Bizpac

Florida Mug Shot Not So Funny When He's a War Hero With PTSD

Fred Grimm: Story of disabled combat vet muddled by strange “only in Florida” mug shot 
Miami Herald 
Fred Grimm 
February 24, 2016

Bizarre booking photo of grease paint-smeared man was irresistible fodder for local media.  Familiar “only in Florida” story line missed the part about three combat tours in Iraq.  Veteran came back from Iraq with 100 percent disability for PTSD.

We played Case No. 16001719MM10A for laughs, of course.

A strange jailhouse mug shot of a man whose face was smeared with black grease paint — that was irresistible stuff for a local media ever vigilant for bizarro material. We’re always looking for proof that we’re living in a caldron of crazy.

NBC 6 added the story to its “Only in Florida” feature: “A Virginia man was arrested in South Florida after several 911 callers claimed he was acting suspiciously.” There was a link to another story in the same category: “Naked woman kicks out police car window.”

Both ABC Channel 10 and the Sun-Sentinel ran with reports of the incident early Monday morning in Oakland Park, describing an arrest following 911 calls about a young man’s strange and threatening behavior.

Because, really, that crazy mug shot told us all we needed to know about Craig Bolin.

Except for a few missing details. Like Bolin’s three combat tours. With actual combat, including a stint with Charlie 1-26, the storied infantry outfit that lost more men in Iraq combat than any Army battalion since Vietnam. Sgt. Bolin posted a YouTube video in 2006 of a harrowing night fight as his unit fended off a siege of an Iraqi police station.

In 2009, Stars and Stripes featured a photograph of young Sgt. Bolin patrolling the Jamilla market on the outskirts of Sadr City, “a volatile Shiite slum in east Baghdad.” In 2009, volatile Shiite slum had become just another euphemism for hell.
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PTSD Veteran Takes 1,000 Walk to Help 11 Year Old Child With Cancer

Man makes pit stop in Brevard on 1,000-mile trek 
FLORIDA TODAY
Michelle Mulak
January 19, 2016

"I was lost in my own head," said Mayer, who passed through Brevard late last week. "All I was thinking about was myself, and how bad things were. It was all about me. I knew what I needed was to find a reason to focus outward, to help others."

Seth Mayer, 39, is walking 1,000 miles to raise money for an 11 year old with brain cancer.

(Photo: Michelle Mulak/FLORIDA TODAY)

Seth Mayer is a man on a mission. His mission: Walking 1,000 miles from Tennessee to Miami in an effort raise money to help an 11-year old with brain cancer. Mayer passed through Brevard last week.

Mayer is walking 1,000 miles from his home in Clarksville, Tennessee, to Miami, Florida in an effort to raise money for an 11-year old boy from his hometown with brain and spinal cancer. For the past 52 nights, he's slept in a tent behind churches in the towns he passes through. He's walked through snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms, sand storms, blazing sun and numbing cold. He's suffered from dehydration, debilitating foot cramps, and chafing so bad that it bled.

And he couldn't be happier about it.

Just a few short years ago Mayer, 39, was in a dark place. This disabled veteran was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and was deeply depressed.

Mayer heard about the family and their needs, wanted to help, and decided to do something bold. He enlisted the support of the community and several local businesses, and set off on foot on a thousand-mile journey in an effort to raise money for the Burgess family. The move gained momentum and people began to take notice, and A Thousand Miles Ministry was born. read more here

Thieves Stole From Veteran Charity, Community Restores Hope

Miami Heat donates $20,000 of food to burglarized veteran center
WSVN News
Posted: Dec 10, 2015

OPA-LOCKA, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida charity got a much needed hand from the Miami Heat basketball team, after thieves stole just about everything.

The generous team donated $20,000 worth of food to Make A Wish Veterans, Friday, after a break-in left the facility almost empty. "Once we heard about what happened to this Make A Wish Veteran facility, we wanted to come in right away and not only provide food for today's feeding but also give them enough food so that they aren't going to run out of food for quite some time," said Michael McCullough, Chief Marking Officer for the Miami Heat.

The crooks took off with TVs, computers and even food that was meant to go to hundreds of veterans. But the community showed the true spirit of the season and gave the center a helping hand.

The president of Make A Wish Veterans, Melinda Buford, showed 7News the areas the crooks targeted. "They done take everything out of here," she said. "No meat, no nothing in here."

The thieves broke into the non-profit's office in Opa-locka and emptied shelves and deep freezers that were full of food. The small charity that feeds 500 veterans weekly, was left with nothing until 7News viewers rose to the occasion, Thursday.
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VA Paid Psychiatrists Who Were Not Seeing Patients?

VA wasted time for mental health care, money for psychiatrists without appointments
The Washington Times
By Anjali Shastry
Tuesday, August 25, 2015

One clinic in Minneapolis boosted its psychiatric resources by 14 percent, but appointments dropped by more than 21 percent. By contrast, the clinic in Miami boosted its resources by 25 percent and its appointments by 36 percent.

The Department of Veterans Affairs wasted tens of millions of dollars last year on salaries for psychiatrists who weren’t seeing patients, the agency’s inspector general said in a report Tuesday that detailed continued problems in getting veterans the mental health care they need.

Veterans Health Administration clinics were more focused on meeting hiring goals than in getting the right number of mental health professionals on staff, the inspector general said, meaning that most of them had to rush to hire psychiatrists to meet the demand by December 2014.
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Veteran in Miami Survived Standoff with SWAT Team

Army veteran barricades himself inside Miami Beach condo, threatens to commit suicide
Local 10 News
Published On: Nov 18 2014

Miami Beach police and its SWAT team were called to a condominium unit at the Cosmopolitan on Washington Avenue near First Street Tuesday morning, after reports of a disturbance between a man and his grandmother.

Man taken into custody after barricading himself inside Miami Beach condo
Police, SWAT team called to Cosmopolitan building after Army veteran threatens to commit suicide
Author: Amanda Batchelor, Senior Digital Editor
Michael Seiden, Reporter
Published On: Nov 18 2014
MIAMI BEACH, Fla.
A man was taken into custody without incident Tuesday morning after barricading himself inside his home, police said.

Miami Beach police and its SWAT team were called to a condominium unit at the Cosmopolitan on Washington Avenue near First Street on Tuesday morning after reports of a disturbance between a man and his grandmother.

According to police, the grandmother left while her grandson barricaded himself inside the home.
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Vietnam Veterans Shut Out of Support Group in Miami

This story has my blood pressure to the boiling point! The VA says they're moving to evidence based therapy. "Evidence based" in this case doesn't seem to include the fact this support is working for Vietnam veterans. WTF! Does it no longer matter that this is exactly what these veterans need to survive?

I've spent over 30 years with these veterans and the evidence came in a long time ago peer support from other veterans is vital to not just surviving but healing. They need the support to keep going but yet time after time Vietnam veterans are being shut out of the very thing that helps them the most.

When you read stories about veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq and their struggles with PTSD, it is easier to think this is all new but even as they received support and help faster than Vietnam veterans did, their problems are not different. Vietnam veterans we for decades without any help at all yet they are responsible for all the help that is available to the newer veterans.

What they lacked was the massive news coverage of what they were dealing with coming home. They didn't have reporters talking to them. They didn't have the internet, Facebook or the resources to discover what was happening all over the country. These veterans eventually found others to give and receive support the rest of the population would not even consider.

There are thousands of charities and support groups for the younger veterans because they are getting the attention and people want to help. So what about the older veterans still waiting for what they fought for? What about the older veterans shut out of the benefits they spent decades fighting for while the rest of the country ignored them?

They were forced into suffering in silence for decades. Taking away from these veterans is not just wrong, it is repulsive!

Vets decry counseling changes
Miami Herald
BY DALTON NARINE
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
11/08/2014

“Group solves problems of the day,” he says, “keeping the illness and suicidal thoughts at bay. Without it we don’t have that lifeline.”

Group therapy, a salve for the mentally wounded, is in trouble at the Miami VA. And Vietnam veterans like me are losing it.

True, as the saying goes, we don’t know what we've got until it’s gone. The VA has touted the psychotherapy unit to which I belong as the most successful at the downtown hospital. Yet, it’s being taken away.

The popular treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will no longer be available to those of us who served in Southeast Asia and still grapple with anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, isolation, numbness, depression and, worse-case scenario, suicidal thoughts.

Forty years after the war, according to a Department of Veteran Affairs-funded study released in August, 11 percent of Vietnam veterans exposed to combat — more than 283,000 — continue to have symptoms of PTSD.

When the psychotherapy unit disbands within the next year, members will have the option to invest in a new program. We could find ourselves staring at our reflection through a different mirror of horror. The VA has paraded a 12-session alternative treatment, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), that claims an easier route to coping with traumatic events so we could get back to living a consummate lifestyle. Back to our pre-warrior innocence?

With tension heavy enough on the brain, our group isn’t buying such intensive, in-your-face therapeutics. We believe in our capacity to sort out bedeviling issues through comradeship that had served us well in the war.

Yet, though I share a protective stance with my brothers, I’m the only one in the group to sign up for CPT, having tired of medication for this and that, even riveting ghostly nightmares and flashbacks that occasionally send up a wail through the fumes of the jungle in War Zone C.
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Miami VA hospital accused of turning away veterans' PTSD service dogs

Veterans say Miami VA harassed them over service animals
More veterans come forward after Local 10 investigation uncovers allegations of disservice
10 News
Author: Ross Palombo, Reporter
Published On: Aug 29 2014

MIAMI
After a Local 10 investigation first uncovered allegations of disservice at the Miami Veterans Hospital, more veterans have come forward with complaints.

New documents obtained by Local 10 also seem to show an increase in the number of animal-related incidents this year compared to last.

"I drove over an IED," said Afghanistan veteran Dane Silva. "And boom, just like that."

Silva said he had multiple injuries to his ribs and now also suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

"I have problems in my neck, severe migraines," said veteran Alecia Golden.

Golden said she left the service with those injuries after working on weapons, like torpedoes and missiles, in the first Gulf War.
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PTSD Marine Veteran Ticketed at VA Over Service Dog

Man claims he was attacked for having service dog in VA hospital
Local 10 News
Published On: Aug 04 2014

From 10 News Transcript
I WAS TREATED LIKE CRAP. VETERANS INJURED IN POWER. BETRAYED EQUALLY BY HIS OWN COUNTRY. HOW COULD YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS? TONIGHT A LOCAL 10 INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ALLEGATIONS OF A SOLDIER.

TRAMPLED ON MY RIGHTS. NOT JUST ME. HIS SERVICE DOG. AND THE WHOLE TIME HE'S THERE. AND SHOCKING DISSERVICE FROM MIAMI VETERANS HOSPITAL.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE WITH THAT DISABILITY CAN COME IN TO THE V.A. AND RECEIVE THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT?

THE TREATMENT HE SAYS WASN'T JUST SHOCKING BUT ILLEGAL. ALL THIS HAPPENING TO A DISABLED VETERAN AT THE ONLY HOSPITAL HE CAN GO TO. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER ROSS HAS THE ONE AND ONLY STORY FOR US. ROSS?

THE VETERAN HAS POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND IT'S VERY COMMON AMONG VETS. NOW, TONIGHT, HE SAYS THE TREATMENT THAT HE GOT AT THE V.A. IS SHOCKINGLY COMMON AS WELL. FRIENDS DYING AND GETTING INJURED. 9 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AND A FEW SHORT WEEKS SINCE THE SHELLING AND SHOOTING AND SCREAMING. YOU KNOW. AND NOW ALL OF IT, TO THIS DAY.

I STILL REMEMBER THE ROADS I PATROLED OUT THERE. ONLY ONE DAY AWAY FOR THIS MARINE. I STILL REMEMBER LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. TODAY THE MEMORIES STILL HAUNT HIM. IT WAS TOUGH, YOU KNOW? LEAVING HIM IN THE TOUGH BATTLE AGAINST POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. I FREAK OUT THE LAST 30 SECONDS BUT THAT LAST 30 SECONDS IN YOUR BRAIN IS SO REAL!

MARTINEZ NOW FIGHTS THAT REALITY WITH A SERVICE DOG DONATED BY A FAMED NATIONAL TRAINER TO DEAL WITH PSTATISTICSER D. I GOT DUKE SO HE'S ON ALERT SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE ON ALERT.
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Iraq Veteran's Mom Suffers After Son Died In VA Miami Rehab

A Mother’s Guilt And A Veteran’s Unexpected Death
CBS Miami
Jim DeFede
April 28, 2014

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Early one morning last year, Mary Zielinski received a call from the VA hospital in Miami telling her that her son was dead.

“I was in such shock that I gave him the phone,” she recounts motioning toward her boyfriend, Agim Banushi. “And he was like, `Who is it?’ And I said, `It’s the VA calling. They’re telling me that Nick’s passed away.’”

Nicholas Cutter survived fourteen months in Iraq, yet he couldn’t survive the rehab center designed to help him. No one told her at the time, but Cutter died of a cocaine overdose.

Zielinski had pushed for Cutter to go to the residential rehab program. When he came back from Iraq in 2010, Cutter was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had trouble being around people; was angry and easily agitated.

He had been attending counseling sessions at the VA center near his home in West Palm Beach, where the doctors had him on more than 20 different medications, according Zielinski and Banushi.

“He was taking upwards of 50 pills a day,” Banushi said.

“These are some of his medications,” Zielinski said, flipping through a large binder.

The pills, however, weren’t helping. His nightmares grew. Afraid to sleep he began using cocaine to stay awake at night. His doctors in West Palm suggested he come here to the residential drug program in Miami – it was supposed to be one of the best. But he didn’t want to go and leave his mother behind.

Zielinski recalled how she talked him into going.

“I specifically told him, `Do you trust me honey?’ And he said, `Yes mom I trust you.’ And I said. `This program will help you.
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