VA treats Veterans Like Disposable Lab Rats

[Guest guest]

The Washington Times reports:

 

" Currently, the VA and other federal agencies are conducting nearly 300

clinical studies involving veterans with PTSD. Most studies are behavioral,

including one that tests the effects of yoga on PTSD sufferers. Twenty-five,

however, are testing drugs on 4,796 veterans, more than half (2,488) of whom

are just returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to

clinical trials filed with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and

reviewed by The Times. "

 

Perhaps no other news report involving unethical human experimentation

demonstrates how far along the slippery slope the American government and

the pharmaceutical industry have plunged. The report is about the

exploitation of the vulnerability of disabled U.S. veterans who served in

Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

The veterans are being enrolled in an unethical drug experiment with the

approval of the Department of Veterans Affairs, an experiment that exposes

them to Pfizer's controversial anti-smoking drug, Chantix, whose documented

serious risks include psychotic episodes, violence and suicide.

 

The FDA acknowledges that nearly 40 suicides and more than 400 incidents of

suicidal behavior have since been linked to Chantix.

 

" Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA

learned from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the drug was linked

to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic

behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in

February. In failing to do so, Mr. Elliott said, the VA treated him like a

" disposable hero. " " You're a lab rat for $30 a month, " Mr. Elliott said.

 

In all, nearly 1,000 veterans with PTSD were enrolled in the study to test

different methods of ending smoking, with 143 using Chantix. Twenty-one of

the veterans testing Chantix reported adverse effects from the drug,

including one who suffered suicidal thoughts.

 

This government supported medical atrocity was uncovered by an investigation

by The Washington Times and ABC News which is airing the report under the

heading " Disposable Heroes "

 

Video & article at:

_http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5180437 & page=1_

(http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5180437 & page=1)

 

 

 

 

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