Fentanyl has taken a record toll on the Army. Families demand answers
Meryl Kornfield, Kyle Rempfer, Steven RichWashington Post
The parents of Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Conley Jr. want to know how many days their son lay dead on his bathroom floor from fentanyl poisoning without the Army noticing. Kue Vue's brother questions how the straight-laced sergeant turned to drugs. Spec. Ari McGuire's parents wonder why he wasn't immediately sent to treatment when he suffered withdrawal symptoms in a training exercise.
None of the families expect they will get all the answers about how the men died from fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid that has hit the Army the hardest among military branches and caused a record number of fatal overdoses among soldiers in 2021, the last complete year of data available, according to new figures obtained by The Washington Post.
In this Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, file photo, this photo provided by the U.S. Army, paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division walk as they prepare equipment and load aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, N.C.
The emerging scope of drug abuse in the military has alarmed lawmakers, who in late May introduced a bill to compel the Pentagon to publicly release overdose data each year, as well improve treatment for personnel suffering from addiction. The proposed legislation comes as experts say the services have done a poor job tracking overdoses, which have increased among active duty troops in the last two years. And many families contend that preventive measures, including urinalysis tests and rehabilitation, fall short.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/12/fentanyl-has-taken-a-record-toll-on-the-army-families-demand-answers/70314167007/
