PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. — The director of a Halifax-area mental health clinic has told an inquiry that better national data is needed about how to properly treat veterans for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Abraham Rudnick testified today at the Lionel Desmond fatality inquiry, which is investigating why the Afghanistan war veteran fatally shot his wife, daughter, mother and then himself in January 2017. 

Rudnick, who heads the Operational Stress Injury Clinic for veterans in Dartmouth, N.S., says robust and systematically collected data could help doctors better treat current and former soldiers.

He says without that data, there may be instances where health providers are "spinning our wheels" and providing treatment that has proven not effective.

Rudnick says research from the Veterans Affairs Department in the United States indicates about 50 per cent of people with military PTSD respond well to current treatments, showing that more research and development is needed.

Last year, the inquiry heard that Desmond struggled to find help for his worsening PTSD symptoms after he left Ste. Anne's Hospital in Montreal on Aug. 15, 2016. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.

The Canadian Press

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