Within the veterans' community-and in fact, throughout the U.S. both in the public sector and the private sector-we face a very serious problem of overmedication. The result of that overmedication is significant numbers of people treated in the Department of Defense facilities, VA facilities, and in the private sector become dependent upon those medications intended to help them and ease their pain. It has been estimated that as many as 50 percent of male veterans and as high as 75 percent of female veterans-OEF and OIF veterans-struggle with pain. The prevalence of chronic pain will likely increase as more servicemembers transition into the VA system. These numbers demonstrate the need for VA to provide quality pain management services to ensure veterans. According to the Centers for Investigative Reporting, between 2001 and 2012 the number of VA prescriptions within four opiate categories-including hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone, and morphine-surged 270 percent. Additionally, during 2012, VA providers wrote more than 6.5 million prescriptions within those opiate categories.
