I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4640 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a review of the 
deaths of certain veterans who died by suicide, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2016 
Mr. JOLLY (for himself, Ms. TITUS, Mr. ABRAHAM, and Ms. GABBARD) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a 
review of the deaths of certain veterans who died by 
suicide, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Suicide Pre-
vention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REVIEW OF 
CERTAIN VETERANS’ DEATHS BY SUICIDE. 
(a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
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of Veterans Affairs shall complete a review of the deaths 
of all covered veterans who died by suicide during the five- 
year period preceding the date of the enactment of this 
Act. Such review shall include— 
(1) the total number of veterans who died by 
suicide during the five-year period preceding the 
date of the enactment of this Act; 
(2) a summary of such veterans that includes 
the age, gender, and race of such veterans; 
(3) a comprehensive list of the medications pre-
scribed to, and found in the systems of, such vet-
erans at the time of their deaths, specifically listing 
any medications that carried a black box warning, 
were off-label, psychotropic, or carried warnings that 
included suicidal ideation; 
(4) a summary of medical diagnoses by Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs physicians which led to the 
prescribing of the medications referred to in para-
graph (3); 
(5) the number of instances in which the vet-
eran who died by suicide was concurrently on mul-
tiple medications prescribed by Department of Vet-
erans Affairs physicians; 
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(6) the percentage of veterans who died by sui-
cide who were not taking any medication prescribed 
by a Department of Veterans Affairs physician; 
(7) the percentage of veterans referred to in 
paragraph (1) with combat experience or trauma 
(including, but not limited to military sexual trauma, 
traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress); 
(8) Veteran Health Administration facilities 
with markedly high prescription and suicide rates of 
patients being treated at those facilities; 
(9) a description of Department of Veterans Af-
fairs policies governing the prescribing of medica-
tions referred to in paragraph (3); 
(10) any patterns apparent to the Secretary 
based on the review; and 
(11) recommendations for further action that 
would improve the safety and well-being of veterans. 
(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 days 
after the completion of the review required under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) submit to Congress a report on the results 
of the review; and 
(2) make such report publicly available. 
(c) COVERED VETERAN.—In this section: 
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(1) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means any vet-
eran who received hospital care or medical services 
furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 
during the five-year period preceding the death of 
the veteran. 
(2) The term ‘‘black box warning’’ means a 
warning displayed within a box in the prescribing in-
formation for drugs that have special problems, par-
ticularly ones that may lead to death or serious in-
jury. 
Æ 
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