U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan (File)
AUSTIN (October 23, 2012)—U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, is calling for hearings in response to a newspaper report that an alarming number of Texas veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have died of prescription drug overdoses.
Flores, who serves on the U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs, said the overdose issue "bothers me a lot."
Flores told the Austin American-Statesman he will ask for a hearing to get the Veterans Administration's response to the overdoses and the latest research on post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Statesman reported last month that a newspaper investigation found the number of suicides among Texas veterans is nearly matched by the number of those dying from prescription drug overdoses.
There is also concern over how well the VA is tracking deaths among veterans.
