Devastating effects of 'Candy Land' reach beyond veterans - La Crosse Tribune
On a clear August morning, Amish carpenter William Miller and his family climbed into their black horse-drawn buggy and headed out to the nearest big-box store, a 16-mile journey from their central Wisconsin farm that takes them two hours. They never made it. Less than a mile from their destination, the buggy was rear-ended by a 1997 Dodge Caravan. But his wife, Elizabeth, who was cradling 6-week-old Ada Mae, was thrown from the carriage and landed on top of her daughter. Ada Mae stopped breathing. A year later, after the driver pleaded guilty to homicide, William Miller wrote to the sentencing judge. At first glance, the 2009 crash that killed Ada Mae would seem to have nothing to do with problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Tomah 60 miles away, which earned the nickname “Candy Land” for its skyrocketing rate of opiate... Some veterans called its chief of staff, psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan, the “Candy Man. But the man behind the wheel of the Dodge van that day was a Marine Corps veteran, and he was stoned on painkillers and tranquilizers from the Tomah VA. Brian Witkus was a known addict who “would fall or injure himself,” court records say , to get... Ada Mae’s death is one of dozens of tragedies that begin to hint at how the flood of narcotics from. Source: lacrossetribune.com
