Sat, Jul 04, 2009

Tucson Region

Fort death ruled negligent homicide

Soldier, 22, died from morphine overdose in January
By Brian J. Pedersen
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.04.2008
An Army investigation has determined the death of a soldier earlier this year in a medical barracks at Fort Huachuca was a negligent homicide.
However, no criminal charges will be filed stemming from the Jan. 28 death of Pfc. Eli Baker, 22, because of a lack of evidence, a spokeswoman for the fort said Wednesday.
"The evidence needed to result in any type of successful prosecution, we just don't have that," Angela Moncur said. "Nothing will happen unless new evidence comes to light."
Baker, from California, died of a morphine overdose, said Chris Grey, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
"We have reason to believe that someone supplied him with that morphine, but he was not prescribed that morphine," Grey said.
Baker had recently finished boot camp and was completing his advanced training when he was found dead in the Warrior Transition Unit at the fort, about 75 miles southeast of Tucson.
The unit provides medical and mental-health support for soldiers wounded in action or for troops recovering from other medical conditions. The facilities were set up at dozens of Army posts around the country last year in the wake of controversy over conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and because of concerns over follow-up care for veterans wounded in action.
Baker is one of two soldiers to have been found dead in Fort Huachuca's Warrior Transition Unit this year. The second, 22-year-old Pvt. Paul Muse of Oklahoma, was found dead Nov. 8.
His death is still under investigation, Grey said.
Fort Huachuca's unit, which opened in June 2007, usually houses about 50 patients, Moncur said.
She said it hasn't been determined whether anyone associated with the unit will be disciplined.
"The legal office, combined with the Warrior Transition Unit commander, are looking at developing a punitive policy centering around the safeguarding of medicines," Moncur said.
She said a complete review of the unit's policies and procedures was conducted immediately after Baker's death, and it determined that all protocol concerning high-risk soldiers had been followed correctly.
Military officials have declined to reveal why Baker was in the Warrior Transition Unit, citing patient confidentiality laws, but several new procedures implemented in the wake of his death center around substance-abuse issues.
"It was identified that there were some ways we could make the process more airtight, so to speak," Moncur said.
Among the changes:
● All Warrior Transition Unit staffers were retrained on signs and symptoms of substance abuse and high-risk medical conditions.
● The unit's squad leader is to be notified of all medication changes, and both medication tracking and reconciliation is now more closely tracked.
● Counseling that soldiers receive upon entering the unit that previously dealt with their being prohibited from consuming alcohol now includes warnings about the dangers of mixing prescription medications and narcotics.
● A stricter weekend accountability program was implemented, calling for squad leaders to conduct an eyes-on check with each patient once a day on weekends. Both Baker and Muse died during the weekend.
The changes were forwarded by the U.S. Army Medical Department Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas to all other Warrior Transition Units, Moncur said.
● Contact reporter Brian J. Pedersen at 573-4224 or at bjp@azstarnet.com.