The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it is reassigning the director of the “Candy Land” VA medical center in Tomah, Wis., which has recently been thrown into the spotlight over allegations of excessive opioid prescription policies.
Mario DeSanctis hasn’t lost his job, and no reason has been given for his reassignment. The VA is moving him to the Great Lakes Health Care System, The Associates Press reported on March 21. In the interim, John Rohrer, associate medical center director at the Madison VA medical center, will take over at Tomah.
Tomah is currently under investigation by acting inspector general Richard Griffin based on whistleblower reports of an epidemic of lax opioid prescription policies.
These reports detailed instances where veterans were so doped up that they accidentally burned themselves with cigarettes and drooled uncontrollably. The facility has at times been called “Candy Land,” having gained a certain notoriety for opioid use. In the meantime, Congress is none too pleased with Griffin, as the office of the inspector general withheld a preliminary report on the troubled Wisconsin facility.
AP also recently reported on March 16 that Griffin is withholding other investigative reports from Congress.
This isn’t the first time that Griffin has run afoul of Congress, though the White House recently stepped up to bat for the acting inspector general. After the VA scandal in Phoenix finally erupted in April 2014, accusations surfaced that acting inspector general Richard Griffin willingly acquiesced to VA and White House interference in the IG report on the scandal.
Almost a year later, the White House has stated that it is in no hurry to replace Griffin with a permanent IG
“I don’t know of any specific announcement regarding an inspector general,” White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said on March 12, 2015. “I would say it’s my understanding that the administration profoundly respects and admires the work of inspector generals across the administration and throughout various agencies, whether they are Senate-confirmed or not.”
The Aug. 26, 2014, IG report on the wait list scandal in Phoenix, which linked delayed care to the deaths of 40 veterans, underwent drastic changes at the behest of Sloan Gibson, deputy VA secretary, and White House deputy chief of Staff Rob Nabors, earlier that August. Aside from the deaths, the report found that thousands of veterans had received untimely care.
This report, by Jonah Bennett, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
