Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) on Wednesday introduced legislation aimed to prevent the overmedication of the nation’s veterans in an effort to curtail suicide deaths of former service members.
The bill would order the VA to conduct a comprehensive independent assessment of the deaths of all veterans being treated at the agency’s network of hospitals who died of suicide or drug overdoses in the past five years.
The bill, called the Veterans Overmedication Prevention Act, has companion legislation in the House that was introduced by Rep. David Jolly (R., Fla.) in February. Jolly’s bill has 64 cosponsors and bipartisan support.
According to figures released by the VA earlier this year, roughly 20 veterans commit suicide in the United States each day. Over 7,400 veterans committed suicide in 2014, accounting for 18 percent of suicide deaths in the country, though veterans comprise only 9 percent of the U.S. population.
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a U.S. Navy veteran, on Wednesday called the rate of veteran suicides a "national scandal."
"Combatting this epidemic will require the best research and understanding about the key causes of veteran suicide, including whether overmedication of drugs, such as opioid pain-killers, is a contributing factor in suicide-related deaths," McCain said in a statement announcing the bill. "We have a long way to go to eradicate veteran suicide, but this legislation builds on important efforts to end the tragedy that continues to claim far too many lives far too soon."
The VA has made combatting veteran suicide a top priority, focusing on hiring mental health professionals to treat veterans at its network of hospitals and strengthening a suicide hotline that veterans in crisis can contact.
However, the Veterans Crisis Line has been criticized by lawmakers and advocacy groups in the wake of reports exposing shortcomings. In emails recently obtained by the Associated Press, the former director of the hotline said that between 35 and 40 percent of calls to the hotline in May were not answered by primary staffers and instead rolled over to a back-up call center. The agency aims to answer 90 percent of calls to the Veterans Crisis Line within 30 seconds.
Earlier this week, the House passed legislation that would require the VA to ensure that all communications to the hotline are answered by qualified staffers in a timely manner.