HCR 10 - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2231
\t09/06
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION\t10
A RESOLUTION\trequesting an investigation on whether benzodiazepines contribute to suicides by veterans.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Abramson, Rock. 20; Rep. Duarte, Rock. 2; Rep. Lachance, Hills. 8
COMMITTEE:\tState-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill requests that the United States Congress, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration investigate whether benzodiazepines contribute to a higher rate of suicides by veteran members of the armed forces.
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\t16-2231
\t09/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
A RESOLUTION\trequesting an investigation on whether benzodiazepines contribute to suicides by veterans.
\tWhereas, in fiscal 2012, the Veterans Administration issued benzodiazepines to 28 percent of the 640,000 veterans seen for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and
\tWhereas, the amount of prescriptions at the Veterans Administration for these drugs amounted to 2.4 million in fiscal 2014; and
\tWhereas, benzodiazapines can be addictive and can possibly enhance fear following trauma and suicidal thoughts, they also have some valid uses, such as stopping panic attacks from escalating, easing sleep disorders, and helping agitated patients at high risk of harm to themselves or others; and
\tWhereas, while the Veterans Administration's clinical practice guidelines recommend against their use in patients with PTSD due to "lack of efficacy data and growing evidence for the potential risk of harm", physicians often prescribe them to patients who come to them already taking those medications because abruptly stopping them can incur serious risks; and
\tWhereas, the suicide rate among veterans ages 18 to 27 receiving care at VA medical facilities is 79 per 100,000, substantially higher than the rates across the active-duty military of 18.7 per 100,000; now, therefore, be it
\tResolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
\tThat the New Hampshire legislature respectfully urges the Congress of the United States, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate whether or not benzodiazepines are contributing to the high number of suicides by veteran members of the armed forces; and
\tThat the house clerk forward official copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and to all the members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a high priority for the Congress of the United States of America.