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Mental Health

Va hospital used cheaper anti-psychotic drugs to save money, probe finds

Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY Opinion
The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in  Beckley, W.Va.

A small veterans hospital in West Virginia placed patients "at medical risk" and violated policy by substituting cheaper drugs for prescribed anti-psychotic medication to save money, an internal agency investigation shows.

The announcement comes four months after the Center for Investigative Reporting uncovered "candy man" overprescription of opiates at a VA hospital in Tomah, Wis.

Allegations of using cheaper drugs at the 40-bed Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Beckley, W.Va., surfaced last year, triggering an internal investigation by the agency's Office of the Medical Inspector.

That probe found that the hospital pharmacy encouraged the use of alternative anti-psychotic drugs because they were cheaper, an action that "may have constituted a substantial and specific danger to public heath," the medical inspector report said.

Doctors followed that guidance despite knowing the alternative medications cause weight gain and sedation, the report said.

The medical inspector recommended a clinical review to determine whether any veterans were harmed by the practice.

"At a time when many veterans are grappling with mental health issues, this VA facility was cutting corners on needed drug therapy to save money," said Carolyn Lerner, head of the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates whistle-blower complaints. "We only know this was happening because an employee had the courage to blow the whistle on this dangerous practice."

The VA said it is acting to correct problems at the hospital and urged any employee with concerns about health care to report them.

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