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Amphetamines Common in Air Force

Aired January 02, 2003 - 14:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin now with a red flag over go pills, amphetamines. The U.S. air force allegedly pushes to its combat pilots facing long and grueling missions.
The allegation comes from a lawyer for one of the two pilots who face a possible court-martial for accidentally dropping a bomb on Canadian troops in Afghanistan back in April. Four Canadians were killed.

The lawyer says amphetamines can impair judgment and are not recommended for people doing potentially dangerous things.

For insight, we turn to CNN military analyst and retired air force major general Don Shepperd in Tucson, Ariz.

Good to see you, General.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD: Hello, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What do you think? Do these pilots have a fair case or is this a cop-out?

SHEPPERD: Paula -- Kyra, I'm sorry.

We have to give some context to this. These are lawyers seeking to provide the best defense possible to their clients, who are facing serious charges.

This is nothing new and nothing exotic and nothing that has not been well tested with a lot of research behind it. I've taken these pills myself on long missions.

The idea behind the pills is to manage your rest cycles and to be alert if you need to be. They are amphetamines, and so they definitely increase your awareness. They work through your nervous system and what have you, but I have never felt that my judgment was affected by them nor known anyone.

On the other hand, this clearly will be a factor in this case and something that will be brought up in the pilot's defense, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did you ever see pilots that you might have flown with or been in the same squadron with, do they ever become addicted to these pills?

SHEPPERD: No. Not at all. They're carefully monitored; they're prescription drugs. The idea is when you change time zones and have trouble managing your rest cycles. For instance, if you have to go into flying at night and during the day, lots of noise during the day keeping you awake, you've got sleeping pills that can help you with sleep.

The same thing with these go pills. Basically, you can take them, they're voluntary. You can take them if you think you need them on the mission. I'm not aware of people that take them regularly, I never was. I'm aware that people took them occasionally when they thought they wanted to be particularly alert during that particular phase of a mission.

Again, I've done it myself and never known anyone that was addicted to them or felt they had a problem with them, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: General, according to an investigation done by 20/20, these pills are not approved by the FDA to combat fatigue. Does that concern you? Did that ever concern you?

SHEPPERD: Taking any kind of pill always concerned me. I think it concerns anyone with their head on straight.

On the other hand, the military has done a lot of research on this, before they did it, before they approved them. They've been approved for years. I don't know this particular pill that they were taking, but there's been a lot of research on it. And they're approved by the surgeon general.

So I'm just going to have to let this play out by experts that are medical experts and psychological experts, but, again, it's part of the defense of these pilots by their lawyers.

PHILLIPS: All right. General, there is a statement from the air force I want to make sure we point this out.

The statement says that these pills are used as a fatigue management tool. The use of pills is voluntary and the effects have been thoroughly tested.

Now, in this lawsuit, the pilots are saying they were forced to take these pills. Did you ever see pilots forced to take these pills?

SHEPPERD: I'm not aware of anyone that was ever forced to take these pills at all while I was on active duty. I don't know what's happening now, but I'd be very surprised if that's the case.

I can understand a doctor suggesting strongly that this is a good way to manage and make sure you're not fatigued when you reach a particular part in the mission that demands a lot of attention, but I'm not aware of anyone ever being forced to take them.

PHILLIPS: All right. My final question to you, General, this came out from the Centcom report. It said that the go pill is intended to be used only in conjunction with other fatigue management measures. What other fatigue management measures are we talking about? SHEPPERD: I assume what they're talking about there, Kyra, is also sleeping pills so that you're on a regular cycle of these things, so you can manage both your sleep and your wakeful hours, as well.

These missions over there, flown from the Gulf area, were very long fighter missions, a single guy in the cockpit flying 8-, 9-, 10-, 12-hour missions. So they're very fatiguing; they're very drying in the system. You've got to stay hydrated. So the idea is to manage your rest cycle and make sure you're rested and attentive when something demands your attention, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And I've seen those pilots. I've been over in the Persian Gulf, and you're right. They've told me, and I've seem them up in the air up to 10 hours.

General Don Shepperd, thank you so much.

So what exactly is dexamphetamine? Well, it's commonly known as Dexadrine and it's commonly prescribed for children and teens diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

Its side effects can include insomnia, dizziness, over- stimulation, nausea, hallucinations and addiction.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 2, 2003 - 14:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin now with a red flag over go pills, amphetamines. The U.S. air force allegedly pushes to its combat pilots facing long and grueling missions.
The allegation comes from a lawyer for one of the two pilots who face a possible court-martial for accidentally dropping a bomb on Canadian troops in Afghanistan back in April. Four Canadians were killed.

The lawyer says amphetamines can impair judgment and are not recommended for people doing potentially dangerous things.

For insight, we turn to CNN military analyst and retired air force major general Don Shepperd in Tucson, Ariz.

Good to see you, General.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD: Hello, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What do you think? Do these pilots have a fair case or is this a cop-out?

SHEPPERD: Paula -- Kyra, I'm sorry.

We have to give some context to this. These are lawyers seeking to provide the best defense possible to their clients, who are facing serious charges.

This is nothing new and nothing exotic and nothing that has not been well tested with a lot of research behind it. I've taken these pills myself on long missions.

The idea behind the pills is to manage your rest cycles and to be alert if you need to be. They are amphetamines, and so they definitely increase your awareness. They work through your nervous system and what have you, but I have never felt that my judgment was affected by them nor known anyone.

On the other hand, this clearly will be a factor in this case and something that will be brought up in the pilot's defense, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did you ever see pilots that you might have flown with or been in the same squadron with, do they ever become addicted to these pills?

SHEPPERD: No. Not at all. They're carefully monitored; they're prescription drugs. The idea is when you change time zones and have trouble managing your rest cycles. For instance, if you have to go into flying at night and during the day, lots of noise during the day keeping you awake, you've got sleeping pills that can help you with sleep.

The same thing with these go pills. Basically, you can take them, they're voluntary. You can take them if you think you need them on the mission. I'm not aware of people that take them regularly, I never was. I'm aware that people took them occasionally when they thought they wanted to be particularly alert during that particular phase of a mission.

Again, I've done it myself and never known anyone that was addicted to them or felt they had a problem with them, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: General, according to an investigation done by 20/20, these pills are not approved by the FDA to combat fatigue. Does that concern you? Did that ever concern you?

SHEPPERD: Taking any kind of pill always concerned me. I think it concerns anyone with their head on straight.

On the other hand, the military has done a lot of research on this, before they did it, before they approved them. They've been approved for years. I don't know this particular pill that they were taking, but there's been a lot of research on it. And they're approved by the surgeon general.

So I'm just going to have to let this play out by experts that are medical experts and psychological experts, but, again, it's part of the defense of these pilots by their lawyers.

PHILLIPS: All right. General, there is a statement from the air force I want to make sure we point this out.

The statement says that these pills are used as a fatigue management tool. The use of pills is voluntary and the effects have been thoroughly tested.

Now, in this lawsuit, the pilots are saying they were forced to take these pills. Did you ever see pilots forced to take these pills?

SHEPPERD: I'm not aware of anyone that was ever forced to take these pills at all while I was on active duty. I don't know what's happening now, but I'd be very surprised if that's the case.

I can understand a doctor suggesting strongly that this is a good way to manage and make sure you're not fatigued when you reach a particular part in the mission that demands a lot of attention, but I'm not aware of anyone ever being forced to take them.

PHILLIPS: All right. My final question to you, General, this came out from the Centcom report. It said that the go pill is intended to be used only in conjunction with other fatigue management measures. What other fatigue management measures are we talking about? SHEPPERD: I assume what they're talking about there, Kyra, is also sleeping pills so that you're on a regular cycle of these things, so you can manage both your sleep and your wakeful hours, as well.

These missions over there, flown from the Gulf area, were very long fighter missions, a single guy in the cockpit flying 8-, 9-, 10-, 12-hour missions. So they're very fatiguing; they're very drying in the system. You've got to stay hydrated. So the idea is to manage your rest cycle and make sure you're rested and attentive when something demands your attention, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And I've seen those pilots. I've been over in the Persian Gulf, and you're right. They've told me, and I've seem them up in the air up to 10 hours.

General Don Shepperd, thank you so much.

So what exactly is dexamphetamine? Well, it's commonly known as Dexadrine and it's commonly prescribed for children and teens diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

Its side effects can include insomnia, dizziness, over- stimulation, nausea, hallucinations and addiction.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com