2/21/17
by News Department on 02/21/17VA suffers opoid thefts...
Federal authorities are stepping up investigations at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers due to a sharp increase in opioid theft, missing prescriptions or unauthorized drug use by VA employees since 2009.
Aggravating the problem is that some VA hospitals have been lax in tracking drug supplies. Congressional auditors said spot checks found four VA hospitals skipped monthly inspections of drug stocks or missed other requirements.
The VA acknowledges it has had problems keeping up with monthly inspections and said it was taking steps to improve training and requiring hospitals to comply with inspection procedures and develop plans for improvement. Three VA employees were charged this month with conspiring to steal prescription medications including opioids.
The inspector general's office says a pharmacy technician used his VA access to a medical supplier's web portal to order and divert 4,000 oxycodone pills, 3,300 hydrocodone pills and other drugs at a cost to the VA of $77,700 and a street value of $160,000.
The drug thefts from the VA also raise the possibility that patients will be denied medication they need or that they will be treated by drug-impaired staff.
