Summary: More than 200 VA pharmacies routinely dispense large amounts of prescription drugs--narcotics, depressants, and stimulants--with a strong potential for abuse and addiction. Large quantities of these drugs have been stolen in recent years because of inadequate controls at VA pharmacies. Since GAO reported on this problem in June 1991, VA has greatly improved controls over bulk supplies of addictive drugs stored in its pharmacies. These controls should make it harder to steal drugs from bulk supplies undetected, but VA's new controls over addictive drugs in dispensing areas have been less effective. Progress has been slowed by pharmacy managers' varying interpretations of VA's new policies, as well as reluctance to spend money to improve drug security. VA is working hard to upgrade controls over these supplies, but it will be months before all pharmacies are adequately controlling how supplies are dispensed. VA's inclusion of its addictive drug controls as material weaknesses in the 1991 Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act Report should help ensure that VA's actions will succeed and help eliminate weaknesses in those controls.
