Inspectors General:
Veterans Affairs Special Inquiry Report Was Misleading
T-OSI-98-12: Published: May 14, 1998. Publicly Released: May 14, 1998.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General's (OIG) Special Inquiry into the alleged cover-up of an unexplained increase in deaths at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Medical Center, Columbia, Missouri.
GAO noted that: (1) the VA OIG conducted the Special Inquiry as a management review to determine how hospital and VA Central Region management had responded to an out-of-norm situation regarding unexplained deaths; (2) GAO determined that the OIG did not collect or analyze evidence in an manner that would identify intentional cover-up efforts; (3) thus, the Special Inquiry's conclusion that no evidence of an intentional cover-up had been found was not consistent with the inquiry conducted and was misleading; (4) OIG failed to comply with its own reporting policies on completeness and accuracy by presenting statements that were not supported by the evidence contained in OIG files, including reference to a discussion that the Special Inquiry never verified; (5) OIG attributed the nearly 2-year delay in acting on the cover-up allegations received in February 1993 to administrative error; (6) the confidentiality of the staff physician who had made the allegations of a cover-up was breached by OIG on at least three occasions; and (7) current OIG policies and procedures on confidentiality are adequate.
Feb 11, 2021
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Electronic Health Records:
VA Has Made Progress in Preparing for New System, but Subsequent Test Findings Will Need to Be AddressedGAO-21-224: Published: Feb 11, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 11, 2021.
Feb 1, 2021
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Veterans Community Care Program:
Immediate Actions Needed to Ensure Health Providers Associated with Poor Quality Care Are ExcludedGAO-21-71: Published: Feb 1, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 1, 2021.
Jan 14, 2021
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Prescription Drugs:
Department of Veterans Affairs Paid About Half as Much as Medicare Part D for Selected Drugs in 2017GAO-21-111: Published: Dec 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Dec 10, 2020
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VA Construction:
VA Should Enhance the Lessons-Learned Process for Its Real-Property Donation Pilot ProgramGAO-21-133: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020.
Dec 9, 2020
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VA Disability Benefits:
Process for Identifying Conditions Presumed to be Service Connected and Challenges in Processing Complex Gulf War Illness ClaimsGAO-21-253T: Published: Dec 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2020.
Nov 12, 2020
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Veterans Health Care:
Agency Efforts to Provide and Study Prosthetics for Small but Growing Female Veteran PopulationGAO-21-60: Published: Nov 12, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 12, 2020.
Sep 30, 2020
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VA Health Care:
Additional Steps Could Help Improve Community Care Budget EstimatesGAO-20-669: Published: Sep 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 30, 2020. -
Veterans Community Care Program:
Improvements Needed to Help Ensure Timely Access to CareGAO-20-721T: Published: Sep 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 30, 2020.
Sep 28, 2020
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Veterans Community Care Program:
Improvements Needed to Help Ensure Timely Access to CareGAO-20-643: Published: Sep 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 28, 2020.
Sep 21, 2020
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VA Disability Benefits:
VA Should Continue to Improve Access to Quality Disability Medical Exams for Veterans Living AbroadGAO-20-620: Published: Sep 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 21, 2020.
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