AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Every 11 minutes, someone in the United States dies by suicide.
It’s a statistic our military families know all too well.
The latest census data shows veterans only make up about 6 percent of our country’s population, but they account for 22 percent of all suicides, and it’s only getting worse.
That’s why the Department of Veterans Affairs is turning to what it calls “innovative treatment options” when traditional therapy or medicine doesn’t seem to be working.
However, as our I-TEAM investigation uncovered, just because the VA offers a treatment, it doesn’t necessarily mean that treatment is available at your local VA.
In 2019, the VA approved a drug commonly used as an anesthetic for veterans with treatment-resistant depression.
Some say, no question, it saved their life, so the I-TEAM started asking questions.
5 years after it was approved, we found, the Augusta VA still doesn’t offer IV ketamine therapy.
In fact, our investigation uncovered 86 percent of VA Networks across the country don’t offer it, either.So, if the government isn’t stepping up, who is? Jason Pearce has a lot of photos from his two decades in the military.First, he joined the Air Force.When he retired, he was a Major in the Army.His pictures from his time in the service paint a picture of success: promotions, higher education, travel, and friendship.Like his uniform, his smile eventually became his camouflage.Meredith Anderson: “Do you feel like you have some trauma from your time in the military?”Jason Pearce: “Yeah, definitely. I was diagnosed with PTSD and given disability on my way out.”Jason’s wounds were deep, but he never saw traditional combat. ALSO FROM THE I-TEAM: What does the Agent Orange testing site at Fort Eisenhower look like today? As Agent Orange stored at Fort Eisenhower years longer than previously thought? As an Army Social Work Officer, he was instead embedded with each of his patients on their own private battlefields, helping them navigate everything from sexual assault to losing limbs to losing battle buddies, either to enemy forces or to suicide.“I’ve been taking on other people’s military trauma my entire military career,” Jason said.As […]
I-TEAM: New ketamine clinic fills void for Department of Veterans Affairs
