O’Keefe tells the story of David Cranmer, a Marine who fought in Iraq and returned home with a severe back injury. Cranmer’s father, Bob, says: “It took him over a year to be seen. He was diagnosed that he would require surgery to have his discs repaired. But they never scheduled the surgery, they just gave him, gave him painkillers. And that went on for a number of years. The primary drug that he was given was OxyContin.” He finally entered a drug-addiction treatment center after he became an addict. 

The VA finally called Cranmer in and after an hour with a psychologist at a local hospital diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was given the anti-depressant Zoloft and two mood stabilizers. But Zoloft has been proven to increase suicidal thoughts or actions. His father believes that ultimately the drugs did far more harm than good. A month after he was diagnosed, David Cranmer used a ladder to hang himself. He left behind a wife and a five-year-old daughter.

Nor is Cranmer’s course of treatment unusual.