Russian Rear Admiral Kills Himself Over Painkiller Red Tape

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 11.02.2014

A terminally ill retired Russian naval officer who reportedly shot himself after being denied painkillers died in the hospital Monday, doctors said.

Vyacheslav Apanasenko, 66, shot himself in the head with a handgun in his Moscow home Thursday and spent five days in a coma before succumbing to the injury.

His daughter Yekaterina Lokshina said on her Facebook page that he had blamed his suicide on “the government and the Health Ministry.”

Retired Rear Adm. Apanasenko had terminal pancreatic cancer and required morphine, which is notoriously difficult to obtain in Russia, with each dose requiring signed permission from multiple doctors.

His suicide note said he had decided to kill himself to spare his family – who had been making frequent, time-consuming and sometimes unsuccessful trips to medical clinics to obtain his painkillers – emotional anguish over his state, Lokshina said.

The Health Ministry had not commented on the incident by Monday afternoon.

Apanasenko headed the Navy’s Missile and Artillery Directorate until retiring in 2003. An expert on missile-based weapons systems, he participated in talks on the START and START II nuclear arms reduction treaties with the United States.

Apanasenko is survived by his wife and daughter.

Topics: Russia

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