VA Works to Limit Employee Drug Theft

(Summer 2017) The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently tightened its monitoring of physicians, nurses and other employees after admitting that the organization had been lax on drug testing and inspections. In the past, this oversight led to an escalation of opioid theft.

In only a smattering of these cases – a shockingly low 3% — were VA employees held accountable for their infractions. As of 2010, about 370 workers had been disciplined for a drug or alcohol-related violation.

Complicating the issue is that not all VA hospitals are stringent with their drug inventories. Some of them were found to disregard monthly inspections of drug levels, while others were charged with ignoring various mandatory procedures. In fact, the health care director at the Government Accountability Office reported that between 85% and 90% of VA sites had significant issues with inspections. Additionally, the VA inspector general’s office uncovered that over a one-year span the department did not drug test over 15,000 new staff who were in sensitive VA positions such as a physician, nurse or police officer.

VA officials conceded the organization’s poor performance with drug inventory control as well as employee drug testing and shared that the organization is now taking steps to correct the situation. All new hires in sensitive positions will be drug tested, and holes in the current drug screening process will be filled. The VA has also instituted 72-hour inventory checks and tighter security on medications to reduce theft at its facilities.  Additionally, the VA plans to hire more inspectors to monitor the drug inventories of its 1,000 clinics and 160 medical centers and computer systems are also being updated to identify all employees who fall under drug testing requirements.

In recent years, reports of missing or stolen drugs at federal hospitals rose over 1,000%, rising from 272 incidents in 2009 to more than 2,900 in 2015 before dropping to about 2,400 in 2016. These sites include those of the VA, seven correctional hospitals and approximately 20 hospitals providing services to American Indian tribes.

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