A new Senate proposal would require signed consent from veterans before certain psychiatric drugs are prescribed, a move supporters say will illuminate risks and empower patients.

The Written Consent Act would compel clinicians to obtain veterans’ signed acknowledgment of side effects and other risks before long term use of antipsychotics, stimulants, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and narcotics.

Air Force veteran Chris Jachimiec illustrates the stakes behind that policy. He was on his first deployment to Kuwait in 2000 when he learned his mother had passed away. He returned home and was prescribed an antidepressant, a step that would shape years of treatment and struggle.

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For nearly two decades, Jachimiec was prescribed Lexapro on and off as he dealt with a number of personal tragedies, losing his grandmother and brother to suicide, and work stress.

He also faced new pressures from hurricane response missions and the challenge of accounting for airmen after the 2017 mass shooting at a festival in Las Vegas. His drinking habits worsened, and he was arrested for drinking and driving in 2018.

He spent three months in and out of partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs for substance use and post-traumatic stress. He was given more antidepressants and Buspirone, which is used to treat anxiety.

Jachimiec said whenever he sought therapy while in the Air Force or through the Department of Veterans Affairs when he left the service in 2020, it was always accompanied by discussions of prescriptions.

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Unbeknownst to Jachimiec, increased alcohol cravings are a reported side effect of Zoloft for some patients, a medication he’d been on since 2018. He noted that the information did not come with warnings that would have changed his course.

“The Written Consent Act” would require signed consent from veterans who acknowledge the side effects and risks of prescribed antipsychotics, stimulants, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and narcotics. A version of the bill was introduced in the House in August and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The legislation is supported by veteran service organizations like the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Disabled American Veterans.

Tim Sheehy, a Republican senator from Montana, is sponsoring the bill. He argues that post-9/11 veterans live in a world where it’s normal to juggle half a dozen psychiatric prescriptions written by three or four different clinicians.

“We would never sign a mortgage or a car loan without seeing the terms in writing, yet we routinely ask veterans to say yes to powerful mind-altering drugs with nothing more than a quick conversation,” said Lou Elliott-Cysewski, the vice president of external affairs for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Officials with the VA declined to comment on pending legislation. After being medically separated from the Air Force in 2020, Jachimiec became a patient at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he was again prescribed Zoloft—along with a batch of other medications. He described the experience as a “cocktail of medications,” a phrase common among veterans describing the range of meds prescribed through the VA, and one he attributes to a broader culture of pharmacological management in military and VA care.

The bill would amend a VA policy that requires providers who prescribe “long-term opioids” to educate patients about the risks, benefits, and alternatives, and obtain their written consent.

In essence, the act would require doctors to take the same precautions when giving certain psychiatric drugs to veterans. A 2018 Government Accountability Office report described a similar approach to opioid prescribing as effective, noting that 70% of veterans in a sample had written consent after receiving opioid prescriptions.

The GAO described the policy as “strong evidence-based strategies for reducing the potential health risks associated with opioid use.”

Derek Blumke, a fellow with the Grunt Style Foundation who investigates overprescription, hopes the legislation will give patients a firmer understanding of risks that come with medications. He emphasized that the policy is “not saying don’t prescribe it,” but rather informing patients that these drugs can cause experiences that are “not natural,” he said.

He himself has been prescribed similar medications by VA doctors and shares a personal memory from coming off Zoloft: “When I was coming off of Zoloft, there was a little dude on my shoulder telling me ‘you don’t belong. You should go away.’ You don’t ignore that. You know that thought is manufactured. It’s not your thought. It’s the medication. And you can identify it on the spot.”

Proponents argue that written consent could avert silent risks and reduce the cascade of consequences that sometimes follows psychiatric treatment. They point to veterans like Jachimiec who describe a hazardous path when warning signs are not clearly documented or explained.

The Written Consent Act would thus reflect a broader conservative aim: to strengthen patient autonomy and ensure informed choices, particularly for those who sacrifice for the nation.

Supporters also note that the bill aligns with a broader philosophy under which veterans deserve transparency and accountability from the systems that treat them.

They argue this is a common-sense reform that could complement the leadership of the administration and the guidance of policy makers like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who has advocated for robust support and clarity in national security and veteran affairs.

The debate now moves to the Senate committee stage, with supporters hoping for swift advancement.

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