Transcript Document

DEAD IN BED IN THE U.S. MILITARY
By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD
May 14, 2011
May 24, 2008 Charleston Gazette: "Vets Taking PTSD Drugs Die in
Sleep”
Four WV Vets Found ‘dead in bed.’
Dx. PTSD. Rx. Seroquel + Paxil +Klonopin
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott, Derek Johnson—
Wide-awake at bedtime--Dead in bed in a.m.
Stan White: 8 cases in KN, OH, WV.
A Cluster? Tip of an Iceberg?
Diane VandeBurgt Googles ‘dead in bed,’ ‘dead in barracks,”
Find 89 + cases.
An Inspector General’s Report of August 14, 2008 on 2/4 WV deaths said:
1. Antipsychotics (Seroquel) are a possible cause of heart arrhythmia.
However…
2. A 2001 review found no association with fatal arrhythmia/SCD.
3. We are unaware of guidelines recommending EKG monitoring.
The 2000-2007 review, “Sudden Cardiac Death Secondary to Antidepressant and
Antipsychotic Drugs” differed markedly stating:
(1) "A number of antipsychotic (Seroquel) and antidepressant (Paxil)
drugs can increase fatal arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death…"
(2) "Antipsychotics increase cardiac risk even at low doses whereas
antidepressants do so at high doses or in drug combinations,"
(3) "These observations call for…an EKG at baseline and after drug
administration."
This March, 2008 article, and the entire 2000-2007 literature it reviews, was
available for the August 14, 2008 report of the Inspector General (VA). Why
was it ignored as if it did not exist?
April 2005: FDA warns: antipsychotics increase deaths in dementia.
January 2009, Ray et al: antipsychotics (alone) double risk of SCD
March 2009, Whang, et al: antidepressants increase the rate of SCD by 700%
September, 2009 Gould et al: stimulants ^ rate of SCD 4.5x (widely available
without Rx.)
April 13, 2009, I wrote OTSG re "the series, sequence of deaths in WTUs”
announced February 7, 2008.
April 17, 2009, OTSG: “Assessment pending, not released yet.”
May 24, 2010, Diane VandeBurgt has “Goggled” 128 ‘dead in bed.’
May 14, 2011: 120 probable, 45 possible “dead in bed”
[Slides A-E]
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v (cardiac arrest = sudden cardiac death)
A. 68 y.o. wide awake, normal mental status, gait, power coordination, hi BP, cardiac arrest
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v (sudden cardiac death)
B. 32 y.o. type 1 diabetic, normal during waking hours, sound asleep, found dead in
undisturbed bed
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(CNS depression death--gradual)
C. Healthy, depressed, 45 y.o. female takes “bottles-full” of Dalmane (Valium-like sleeping
pill), Xanax (like Valium) and Ambien (sleeping pill) becomes sleepy, asleep (increasingly
difficult to arouse by shout or knuckling of sternum) with steadily slower, more shallow,
respirations, pulse remaining regular and strong, finally--as respirations cease, growing
weaker, blood pressure dropping, stopping 15 to 20 minutes after cessation of respirations.
(Observe all the time in which it is possible for the patient to be diagnosed overdose—CNS
depression, given artificial respiration—saved (more often without than with anoxic brain
damage—differing markedly from cardiac arrest/sudden cardiac death needing immediate
diagnosis (within 3 minutes and CPR) + empty pill bottles.
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D. 29 y.o. female, depressed, voicing suicidal intentions saves and then takes several bottles-full
of Elavil, a tricyclic antidepressant. Steadily deepening sleep = unresponsiveness = coma,
steadily diminishing respiratory rate and depth, heart rate remaining regular, suddenly becomes
pulseless & apneic (sudden cardiac death) and is found dead in bed in the morning.
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v (sudden cardiac death)
E. 26 y.o. PFC with PTSD, MDD taking 7 prescription psychiatric drugs, Seroquel and Paxil
among them, lethargic, can’t keep meds straight, slurred speech, drunk-like afoot, difficult to
arouse from sleep but always arousable, found dead in undisturbed bed.
February 1, 2009, Army Times: “ 70 soldiers died in WTUs' first 16 months-suicide not the leading cause." (a major slip of the tongue).
Army Times:
13% suicides;
9% pending investigation;
19% accident;
50% "natural causes." (In 20 & 30 year olds)
Robert Moore (WCTO): "warriors have died of cancer, also heart attacks."
But never a returned phone call.
April 22, 2010, received anonymously:
"Serious Incident Reports (SIRS) 10/03/09-3/7/10”
Total Army National Guard (ARNG):
Accident Fatalities--20;
Suicide--32 (6 confirmed 12 pending);
Combat--8;
Illness caused--23;
Other deaths--10;
Total--93.
Examples:
10/19/09-"illness heart attack";
10/28/09—"illness cardiac arrest";
11/10/09—"other found dead";
11/14/09—"other found dead";
11/28/09—"illness heart attack";
12/26/09—"illness heart attack";
1/2/10—"illness cardiac arrest";
2/7/10—"illness cardiac arrest";
2/9/10—"illness cardiac arrest";
2/3/10—"illness cardiac arrest.";
2/10/10—"illness cardiac arrest";
2/21/10—"illness heart attack."
13 of 93 (14%) with definite or probable sudden cardiac deaths.
Victims
Spc Craig Reginald Hamilton, 35. April 17, 2009. SAN ANTONIO, TX the
deaths of two soldiers are being investigated after both men apparently died
in their sleep.
Staff Sgt. Kevin M. Marsh, 41, (January 5, 2008)-- was found dead in his
barracks room on New Year’s Day. Authorities were already investigating at
least five deaths at Fort Hood from late July to September.
Pfc. Jordan May fell into a deep sleep and never woke up. There are more
questions than answers in the stateside deaths of May and 13 other Fort Hood
troops in the past eight months. The hidden demons — mental stress,
depression and traumatic brain injury, to name a few — don't always go away.
When left unresolved, they can lead to divorce, drug or alcohol abuse and
suicide. Here, with cause of death still undetermined, we have the ultimate in
victim blaming.
Eric J. McSherry of the 48th Chemical Brigade, was found dead on post Aug. 4.
It was the third death of a soldier reported on post in two weeks.
Chief Warrant Officer, Judson E. Mount. 37. Army investigates 2 deaths in
WTU. Both apparently died in their sleep--Mount April 7, Hamilton, March 27
Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker told the House Armed Services
Committee last year that "we're seeing a
pattern" of overdoses and suicides in the units. – overdoses and suicide he calls
them.
Pfc. Ryan Alderman, on multiple prescribed drugs, antipsychotics and
antidepressants included. Always Stuporous
and slurring his speech, he
was found dead in his barracks—a “sudden cardiac death.” A diagnosis of
SCD was confirmed by EKG but later changed to "suicide."
Gy Sgt. Christopher Scott Bachus, 38, died in his sleep Monday at Camp
Lejeune, N.C.
Pfc. Eli Mundt Baker, 22 found dead in WTU barracks, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Pfc. Crystal Joy Carney, 21, discovered unresponsive in a house by another
soldier.
Pvt. Michael Bloomquist, 19, found dead in his barracks room Jan 24, 2009.
Spc. John Conant, 36. Death at an off-post home was said to be from
natural causes. He was prescribed at least six medications a day. His mother
said : “They didn’t do anything but give him medication.”
Spec. Theresa Flannery, 32-- War hero, former Miss Madison County.
Last Thursday, on a visit in Lexington, N.C., she apparently died in her
sleep.
Jeremiah Joseph Harper, 19, “I was told by one of the men who found him
that it looked like he had decided to take a nap after putting on his shoes
and just never woke up.” This, just as in Type I diabetes, is a case or
“dead in an undisturbed bed’ syndrome. It differs from sudden death in
an epileptic attack in which the bed would be mussed or disturbed.
Ramiro Hernandez, 24. Initially it was reported that Hernandez was found dead in
his barracks at Twenty-Nine Palms. But an investigation concluded that Lance
Cpl. Ramiro Hernandez III died in his barracks by hanging himself with a belt.
His mother doesn't
believe it. The uncertainty over the cause of death has been difficult for
the family, said Ramiro's father.
Spc. Kenneth Jacobs, 21, of Holly Springs, NC, was found unconscious and
not breathing. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene. His mother, Dawn
LeBerth, stated: “My son Kenneth Jacobs died in his sleep for no apparent
reason.
Spc. Levi B. Kinchen 21, died on Aug. 9, 2003 in Baghdad. A fellow soldier
tried to wake Kinchen and noticed he was not breathing.
Pfc Gregory Kitchen-Hilderbrand, was found dead in the barracks at Camp
Pendleton in San Diego. The cause is under investigation.
Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger, 21, was diagnosed PTSD and prescribed six
medications. His speech was slurred and he would forget what medications he
had taken. He was always like that until he was found dead in his room.
What is PTSD? What is any “chemical imbalance” or psychiatric “disease.” Dr.
Supriya Sharma, Director General of Health Canada,
recently confessed: “For mental or psychiatric disorders in general…there are no
confirmatory gross, microscopic or chemical abnormalities to allow objective
physical diagnosis. Rather, diagnoses of mental conditions are described in
terms of symptoms and are entirely subjective. This means no psychiatric drugs
make a physical abnormality normal as in every other medical specialty. They
are pain pills for the mind—nothing more.
A 2008 Rand Corporation study found that 20 percent of the military, or 300,000
have so-called PTSD.
A separate study found that 89% with PTSD or MDD were on an antidepressant
while 34% were on an antipsychotic. This means that nearly a third with a
PTSD or MDD were on at least two medications bearing a risk for cardiac
arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
[Closing Slides—the smoking gun!]
To conclude: What we have here is an epidemic of prescription psychiatric
drug-related sudden deaths in the military. I believe that military
officialdom knows these are not suicides,” or “accidental overdoses” (with
CNS depression gradually proceeding to respiratory failure, heart failure,
and death) or anything other than sudden cardiac deaths, due primarily to
the antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs they seek to disguise by their
dangerous, deadly, entirely un-scientific drug cocktails. It is time that
military officialdom, including the House and Senate Armed Services and
Veterans Affair Committees “came clean,” producing the contents--if not
the names—of the medical record of each and every one of the young men
“found dead.” To do less would be to perpetuate a gross criminal act. The
families of the deceased, and soldiers, and veterans everywhere, await the
truth about the epidemic psychotropic drug poisoning that is killing so many
physically healthy young men as they sleep.