Overdose deaths among veterans treated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs occur at a rate nearly double the national average.
Reporter Aaron Glantz has been following this story for two years. In this segment, he introduces us to the “Candy Man,” the chief of staff at a VA hospital in Tomah, Wisconsin. Hospital staff members tell Reveal that Dr. David Houlihan “hands out narcotics like they’re candy.” Opiate prescriptions at the medical center have skyrocketed during his tenure.
But it’s not just the people inside the hospital who are suffering – Glantz shows the widespread consequences of a decade of doling out drugs.
DIG DEEPER
- Read the full story.
- If you’re a veteran who’s found an alternative to painkillers, text “pain” to 877-877 – we want to hear your story.
- Listen to Glantz’s original investigation of the VA’s opiate habit.