(Belleville, IL) — Poor care by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was cited by veterans and their families today in testimony before a panel examining suicides by veterans. A task force of state lawmakers meeting at Southwestern Illinois College listened to Vietnam-era vets who complained that the VA too often treats mental health problems with addictive painkillers. The Legislature established the task force in response to a suicide rate among vets that is about 30 per one-hundred-thousand people, about twice that of non-vets in similar demographic groups.