Rx for drug crimes at VA: Crack down on offenders

An exclusive investigative report from the Associated Press published on Page 1 of The Vindicator on Tuesday adds fresh stains to the already soiled public image of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

In it, the world’s largest newsgathering cooperative revealed record high numbers of VA employees suspected of or caught red-handed stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs – mostly opiates – for personal use or gain. Worse yet, sometimes these crimes unfold to the harm of VA patients in need.

Consider just a few of the troubling episodes the AP shined its spotlight on:

In Virginia at the VA medical center in Richmond, a registered nurse in the Spinal Cord Injury Ward admitted stealing 20 to 30 oxycodone tablets and 8 to 10 fentanyl patches from VA medication dispensers. She said she would intentionally shortchange the amount of pain medication prescribed to patients, taking the remainder to satisfy her addiction.

In Missouri at the Columbia VA medical center, a licensed nurse pleaded guilty to stealing more than 340 controlled substances for her personal use over a period of six months.

In California at the VA medical center in Long Beach, an employee sold heroin on site to an undercover officer on multiple occasions. An investigation determined the employee and others had been improperly selling oxycodone, Percocet, fentanyl and other opiates for a long period of time there. Also in California, a VA employee was found smashing stolen pills into powder form at his desk before inhaling them.

Collectively, these and other shocking cases of drug thefts and other irregularities – recall the VA worker in Texas caught watching pornographic videos with a patient – demand swift firings and sometimes severe criminal punishment. Too often, the VA hierarchy has been too much of a softie.

For example, that Virginia nurse who shortchanged medication to patients received little more than a slap on the wrist – home detention and probation. The Texas porn watcher could not be fired on the spot as common sense would dictate due to a sometimes lengthy appeals process granted VA employees.

All told, only 3 percent of VA employees involved in cases of drug theft or misuse in recent years have received any discipline, according to government data obtained by the AP.

SOME REASON FOR OPTIMISM

Fortunately for efforts to restore credibility and accountability at the VA, there is promising hope for change to appropriately punish criminal workers and to implement needed structural reforms to discourage a culture of corruption.

That hope began with the appointment this year of pull-no-punches Director Dr. David Shulkin, one of the few Cabinet appointees of President Donald J. Trump to win broadsweeping bipartisan support in his confirmation.

Dr. Shulkin, who couples handling of administrative duties with one-on-one patient visits, is dead set on righting the department’s wayward ship.

“When you have one or two or three people who really aren’t doing their job, they bring everybody down,” he said. “And so the very best thing I know from my private-sector experience is you’ve got to deal with that, you’ve got to get them out of the system.”

He would like to have the authority as secretary to remove such nefarious and dangerous employees pronto.

Toward accomplishing that goal, Dr. Shelton is counting on assistance from Congress in passing the VA Accountability First Act.

The act, which the U.S. House of Representatives adopted earlier this spring, will give the VA secretary increased flexibility to immediately remove, demote or suspend VA employees with an expedited appeals process. Currently, such appeals drag out sometimes for years.

The bill also expands and protects the whistle-blowers who are critical to discovering and addressing misconduct and criminal behavior.

In the Senate, where a final vote on the Accountability First Act is scheduled next Monday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., its prime sponsor, speaks passionately about the need for reform.

“For too long, incompetent and uncaring employees at the VA have been allowed to fail at their jobs but still keep them,” the senator said.

Together, more taut employment standards and strong leadership at the helm of the VA hold promise to weed out those errant employees who fail to put accountability to taxpayers and compassion for veterans first and foremost each and every day on the job.