Walter Reed Army Medical Center

For Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the bad news just keeps coming.

Write an Article

Join

RSS

OVERDOSE RAISES QUESTIONS AT WALTER REED

Written by CORKSPHERE on

From: corksphere.blogspot.com

The night before he was to enter a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, Army Pfc. Chris Eckert swallowed a pill prescribed to help him sleep without the nightmares that have tormented him since he left Iraq.

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Friday Mar 21, 2008 18:38:27 EDT

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_methadone_032108w/

Then, sitting in his barracks at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Jan. 17, he counted out seven methadone tablets and popped them into his mouth.

The next morning, his squad leader found him on the floor in a puddle of his own vomit, but still alive.

“They told me, ‘Your son is not going to make it,’ ” said Eckert’s mother, Rose Szymborski. “He was on life support for five days.”

Since June 2007, 11 troops have died in the Army’s Wounded Warrior units, according to Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army’s Surgeon General.

Eckert’s mother blames the Army for not looking out for him, while Army officials say Eckert needed to do more to help himself. But both sides agree his case is an example of the difficulties of treating troops working through substance-abuse issues linked to post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.

“I felt like my hands were kind of tied,” said Capt. Scott Beam, Eckert’s case manager. “In my heart ... I knew I had done all I could have.”

Szymborski said she tried to alert Eckert’s chain of command at the hospital that her son was dealing with symptoms of PTSD. He suffered nightmares, couldn’t handle loud noises and was angry. He told friends he was suicidal. He was abusing pain medications and alcohol.

Eckert was serving in Iraq in early 2007 when an IED blast killed his platoon sergeant and left him with a mild traumatic brain injury.
“He was getting worse by the week,” his mother said.

Click on link to read full account.

	For $10k and Sex, Would You Let This Woman Out of a DUI? Who says cops don't have a sense of humor?
	Sewage Plant Renaming Would Commemorate Bush's Messy Presidency Some say it's juvenile, some say it's brilliant. Either way it's on the ballot.
	Thieves Caught Sleeping; Cops Take Pictures Who says cops don't have a sense of humor?