VA Employees Stealing Drugs, Report Says
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WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacies are losing large quantities of prescription drugs to addicts and the black market, a government report said Wednesday.
The General Accounting Office report said pharmacy employees “have been able to steal a wide range of addictive drugs” over periods of months and years because too many employees have access to stocks that are rarely inspected.
More than half the 225 pharmacies in VA hospitals do not inspect lower “scheduled” drugs, controlled substances that have less potential for abuse but command high prices on the black market, the report said.
“Even years of theft of massive amounts of addictive drugs from a single pharmacy went undetected by ineffective VA management,” said Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigation.
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