Federal Reports

We evaluated the Department of Homeland Security’s enterprise-wide security program for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information intelligence systems. 

The OIG inspection team assessed whether the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) is meeting the intent of 44 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 1909 to “make firsthand investigation of conditions for which need is indicated” with the Public Access Assessments (PAA) of the Federal Depository Libraries (FDL).

VA medical facilities use automated dispensing cabinets to help manage medication inventory and allow clinical staff to dispense medications to patients near the point of care. The OIG conducted this national review to evaluate whether controls at VHA medical facilities ensure accountability over high-risk medications when clinical staff remove them from these cabinets using generic information, such as codes or nonpatient information.

The OIG estimated that in fiscal year 2024, VA medical facilities could not fully account for 46 percent of medications removed with generic information from cabinet A (one of two types of cabinets reviewed, called A and B in the report). Facilities had the most issues tracing propofol to specific patients. Cabinet B transactions could not be projected due to data limitations, but these transactions may also be at risk of not being traceable to a patient. These issues occurred because medical facilities’ standard operating procedures and local policies did not address monitoring of medication removals from cabinets using generic information. Some staff reported using generic information out of convenience or to be more efficient.

The OIG reviewed 40 transactions in which staff removed controlled substances using generic information and found one instance in which a facility could not trace a controlled substance to a specific patient. VHA policy does not prohibit using cabinets to store controlled substances, but it does require facilities to maintain full accountability over them through an electronic record that tracks the medication’s removal from a cabinet to its final dispensation. Removing medications without using a patient’s name increases the risk of drug diversion, so this practice should be closely monitored.

VHA concurred with the OIG’s three recommendations to enhance local guidance on, compliance with, and monitoring of these transactions.
 

Why We Did This Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General conducted this audit to determine to what extent the EPA National Center for Radiation Field Operations, or NCRFO, has the capability—including appropriate management and internal control, resources, and staff qualifications—to successfully fulfill its roles and responsibilities in preparing for and responding to radiological incidents. 

Summary of Findings

We found that the NCRFO needs to take steps to improve its preparedness to respond to radiological emergencies. While the NCRFO successfully conducted nonemergency responses, such as site assessments, we found that it was not fully prepared for the one emergency response it conducted during the period we reviewed.

This report provides the results of Objective 1, in which we determined whether the State of Michigan used FNS SNAP administrative funds to provide benefits to participants.