Arizona Pain Chronicle

With more soldiers being treated for chronic pain and injuries sustained while in combat or training, the U.S. Army is fighting to keep these men and women from becoming statistics.

Doctor and Major Jeffrey Tidy is part of a team with the Army trying to find a way to reduce opioid abuse.

Doctor Tidy says, “Years of up-tempo deployments in two wars have had a significant impact on even our most elite forces.”

Several Soldiers back up Doctor’s Tiede’s claim by sharing their own stories in a documentary the Army is using to help curb opioid abuse among the ranks.

PRNewswire.com found upwards of 10-thousand soldiers at Ft. Bragg receive opioid prescriptions each year for their chronic pain symptoms.

Doctor and Major Anthony Dragovich, has worked with the medical team at Ft. Bragg to create and establish Operation OpioidSAFE – in efforts of curbing opioid addiction among our military. Doctor Dragovich says

"Our goal in establishing Operation OpioidSAFE was to combat senseless deaths directly related to prescription pain killers, we constantly stress the sentiment that prescription opioids should be treated with the same care and attention that we pay our soldiers throughout military training. We cannot overlook the dangers that arise from opioid abuse."

While America’s army is the most medicated in its history, our soldiers have a fighting chance of kicking harmful painkiller addictions thanks to initiatives like Operation OpioidSAFE.

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