Veterans Affairs Department officials have “temporarily reassigned” a psychologist who oversaw a 10-fold rise in the prescription of opiates from his post after an investigative journalism group exposed the problem — even though those same officials had known about it for years and done nothing.
David Houlihan, chief of staff at the VA’s Tomah, Wis., facility, allegedly preferred placating veterans with dangerous opiates, turning them into “zombies” — and in at least one case leading to death — rather than than doing the slow and difficult work of mental and physical recovery, an article by the Center for Investigative Reporting informed readers.
Politicians and bureaucrats issued a slew of statements professing that they were shocked and appalled to learn of the situation and demanded immediate action.
But oversight bodies have been steadily informed of the problems, through standard channels, for five years, and none removed Houlihan.
Many have been fired after raising concerns, and at least six have filed whistleblower retaliation complaints.
Robin Weeth, a former hospital social worker, wrote to the VA inspector general in 2012 that “veterans are overmedicated and have been driving while impaired, fallen asleep while smoking and set themselves on fire,” according to CIR. He said he never heard back.
Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement that “the rhetoric coming out of VA’s central office often doesn’t match the reality of what’s actually happening on the ground. … I am extremely disappointed by the fact that the VA Inspector General has known about many of the serious problems at the Tomah VA Medical Center for nearly a year, yet made no effort to even notify the House or Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs.”
A 2008 VA IG report on patient deaths in Phoenix was marked as “restricted” and shared only with agency managers.
Miller asked the IG to send copies of all of its reports to Congress, but in a Dec. 30 letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, inspector general Richard Griffin refused.
“We find no such compelling reason to do so on a routine basis,” he wrote.
Griffin is serving in an “acting” capacity. A December investigation by the Examiner showed that such temporary jobholders often shy away from tough oversight. They will often need goodwill from agency managers in order to secure the permanent job.
