MADISON, Wis. — A VA medical center in Tomah accused of rampantly overprescribing painkillers was expected to be a focus of a U.S. Senate hearing Thursday, with several Department of Veterans Affairs officials scheduled to testify.
In written testimony released in advance of the hearing in Washington, interim VA Undersecretary for Health Carolyn Clancy said she is deeply concerned about allegations of overprescribing practices and retaliatory behavior at the center in Wisconsin, where investigations are ongoing. She said if employee misconduct is found, those responsible will be held accountable.
But Clancy also said the VA has succeeded elsewhere in limiting use of narcotics to treat pain. Clancy said through the Opioid Safety Initiative, medical centers in Minneapolis, Tampa and Cleveland have significantly cut their use of narcotics to manage chronic pain symptoms. She said the Cleveland facility received an award from the American Pain Society for using “complementary and alternative medicine to lower (patients’) reliance on opioids.”
Other representatives from the VA and the VA Office of the Inspector General’s office are scheduled to speak in front of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Experts in drug safety and drug control are also expected to testify.
A VA report earlier this month found that patients at the Tomah hospital were more likely than patients at other VA hospitals to receive high doses of narcotics. That report also said a culture of fear among employees affected patient care. Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old Marine, died of an overdose in the hospital’s inpatient care unit last year.
Tomah facility director Mario DeSanctis was reassigned to a position at the Great Lakes Health Care System network office. Chief of staff David Houlihan was placed on administrative leave earlier this month pending the results of several investigations.
