Since June, there has been a rash of overdoses at Army hospitals, including some, like [Sgt. Robert] Nichols’, that have resulted in deaths. The medications prescribed for soldiers are so potent that they can be dangerous when taken with other drugs or alcohol. Overdoses have become another problem for the Army to grapple with in the wake of criticism of the care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals.
Eleven medications were found in Nichols’ body, including painkillers to treat his physical wounds from an explosion in Iraq and drugs to ease the nightmares, insomnia and memory loss caused by his post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
Susan Nichols said that several times before he died, Robert Nichols asked his doctors to reduce the medications “because he felt like he was a zombie and he could only function for a small portion of the day.”
Brig. Gen. James Gilman, commander at Brooke, said Nichols’ death is still under investigation, so he could not discuss details. But he said the Army has made changes to try to prevent a repeat of that kind of death.
“We obviously went back and looked at medications and whether there are additional steps to take to make it safer,” Gilman said. “It would be unthinkable not to reassess everything that you’re doing when an event like this happens.”
I wonder what the percentage rate of drug/treatment mistakes are in military hospitals versus “civilian” hospitals.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13954142/