Veteran who killed himself outside of VA center in Decatur identified
Victim was 68-year-old Alpharetta man who shot himself
The veteran who killed himself outside the main entrance to the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur Saturday has been identified as Olen Hancock, 68, of Alpharetta, according to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“After Mr. Hancock shot himself, the staff at the VA immediately assisted him and called 911 for an ambulance,” Mark Anglin, the chief investigator for the DeKalb Medical Examiner’s Office told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He said Hancock was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead at the emergency department.
Another Georgia veteran died by suicide in a parking lot at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin Friday. Veterans Affairs Department officials have declined to identify the victim, citing privacy reasons.
More than 6,000 veterans killed themselves each year between 2008 and 2016, VA figures show. In 2016, 202 veterans died by suicide in Georgia. And between 2015 and 2016, the suicide rate per 100,000 people for veterans ages 18 to 34 increased from 40.4 to 45 nationwide, despite the VA’s efforts to tackle the problem.
Filed under: General Problems
I am the attorney representing the family of Gary Pressley in a wrongful death lawsuit against the VA. Unfortunately, his pain medications were abruptly cut off cold turkey without any taper or legitimate justification. Gary committed suicide because he could no longer live with intractable pain and had lost all hope that he would ever receive appropriate treatment for his chronic pain. He was appropriately prescribed opioids by a community pain management specialist. Unfortunately, she stopped treating veterans because the VA was not paying her bills. Gary’s primary care physician at the VA then refused to refill his hydrocodone. His death was preventable and the family intends to hold the VA accountable.
Why would they need to call 911 if he was outside a medical center????
they have a long wait list for appointments
I would love to know what percentage of the Veterans deaths happened after they were forced tapered off pain medications. Many of these deaths by suicide were completely preventable just by not forcing true chronic/intractable pain patients off opioids. Haven’t these men and women already sacrificed enough? God Bless our Troops
Scott; my thought exactly. Dr Beth Darnall testified against the Oregon chronic pain task farce’s insane proposal to force all poor people off all pain meds, no matter the condition, a few months ago. During her presentation, she cited a VA study that finally looked at the suicide rate of the vets that got their pain meds yanked, & said the rate shot up a lot (I don’t remember the exact #). I didn’t get a chance to ask her for the exact citation, & it’s not one I’ve been able to find. I’m guessing the VA does NOT want it getting out in public sight. but she said she saw the numbers & they were appalling. No surprise; the numbers for non-vet patients who’ve lost their meds is appalling, but they won’t track those either.
Scott, excellent question. I, too, have been wondering about this. They do know that force tapering our vets is adding to the suicides.
“In two sets of fiscal years — 2010-2011 and 2013-2014 — opioid discontinuation was not associated with overdose mortality but was associated with increased suicide mortality.”
https://www.wjhl.com/news/va-reps-to-discuss-impact-of-opioid-reduction-on-suicides-during-summit_20180123093420242/934066782