WASHINGTON: A recent Pentagon report reveals that the White House Medical Unit, operating during the Trump administration, distributed prescription drugs, including controlled substances, to ineligible staff.
The report, released on Jan. 8, exposes the unit’s failure to adhere to federal government and Department of Defence guidelines, raising concerns about compliance with safety standards and patient health and safety.
In addition to providing ineligible staff with free specialty care and surgery at military medical facilities, the unit was found to have spent tens of thousands of dollars more on brand-name drugs than necessary, neglecting cost-effective alternatives. The report emphasizes that these practices not only inefficiently utilized Department of Defence (DoD) funds but also increased the risk of controlled substance diversion.
Among the specific findings, the unit spent $46,500 between 2017-2019 on 8,900 unit doses of Ambien, a brand-name sleeping medication. This amount was 174 times more than the $270 cost of the generic equivalent for the same number of doses. Similarly, $98,000 was allocated for 4,180 unit doses of Provigil, a brand-name stimulant, representing a 55-fold increase compared to the $1,800 cost of the generic equivalent.
The report highlighted the lack of effective controls to ensure compliance and noted the absence of oversight by Military Health System leaders. The unit’s practices increased the risk to patient health, with opioids and sleeping medications not properly accounted for and tracking relying on error-filled or unreadable handwritten records. The report, spanning investigations from September 2019 through February 2020, covers the administrations of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, with a focus on 2017-2019 during Trump’s presidency.
In response to the report’s findings, Lester Martinez-Lopez, the assistant secretary of defence for health affairs, concurred with all recommendations, signaling a commitment to addressing the identified issues.
