In 2012, a whistleblower alleged that chronic understaffing in the Jackson primary care unit threatens patient safety and that nurse practitioners were prescribing narcotics without being legally permitted to do so, OSC said.
Physicians are also allegedly pressured to prescribe narcotics to veterans they have not seen, veterans are scheduled for appointment times when there are no physicians on duty, nurse practitioners operate in the facility in violation of VA rules and state licensing requirements, and inadequate physician staffing levels result in numerous fraudulently completed Medicare Home Health Certifications, according to OSC.
Finally, in a fifth matter, a whistleblower alleged that a radiologist failed to properly read thousands of radiology images, leading to missed diagnoses of serious, and in some cases, fatal illnesses in cases in which VAMC management was aware but failed to take corrective action.
"The VA whistleblowers raise serious questions about the ability of this facility to care for the veterans it serves," Lerner said. "We urge the VA to carefully investigate and take corrective action."
