Rep. Murphy introduces Veterans Access to Treatment Act
Congressman Tim Murphy speaking at Washington City Hall.
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The transition from active duty to civilian life is not always seamless for veterans. Even transferring a prescription to a Veterans Affairs facility can take time if that drug is not kept in stock.
That can be a life-or-death problem when it comes to mental health, according to U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy.
Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, introduced a bill that aims to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and increase veterans’ access to mental health medications they took while on active duty. The Enhancing Veterans Access to Treatment Act would require the VA to match the Department of Defense’s mental health drug formulary.
The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Currently, if veterans’ medications are not listed on the VA formulary, they must switch to a different medication and “fail first” before being permitted to continue taking their old medication, Murphy said. Another option is to go through an appeals process.
“With an alarmingly high suicide rate of 22 veterans dying each day, our veterans don’t have time to wait – nor should they for an appeal process, or being switched away from a proven effective medication for their depression or anxiety,” said Murphy, who is also a psychologist.
“Our veterans already faced combat overseas. They should not have to fight this battle back home.”
Murphy said generic drugs are typically offered by the VA, but they are not always perfect substitutes for brand-name medications. He recalled the story of Clay Hunt, a Marine veteran with PTSD whose mother, Susan Selke, testified last year in front of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Selke told representatives that her son spent hours at a pharmacy trying to fill his prescription for Lexapro, only to be told he would receive it in the mail more than a week later.
“A few issues there – if you know about antidepressant, anti-anxiety medications, you can’t stop them cold, and you can’t wait for it to come in the mail and expect it to work quickly,” she testified. “It takes a while for these to work, it takes a while for them to build up in their system. He was extremely frustrated. He called me on the way home and said, ‘I just can’t go back there.'”
On March 31, 2011, two weeks after his appointment with a VA psychiatrist, he committed suicide at the age of 28.
Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed into law the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which “helps fill critical gaps in serving veterans with post-traumatic stress and other illnesses,” Obama announced.
Murphy said getting veterans the medication they need in a timely manner is paramount.
“We want this to be seamless and quick,” he said. “That’s the key here.”