Federal Reports

Transmittal of the Final Report Assessing the Federal Trade Commission’s Compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Redacted for public release)

The United States currently faces a public health emergency due to the over-prescribing of opioid drugs for pain-related conditions. Opioid treatment programs (OTPs) provide medication-assisted treatment coupled with counseling and behavioral therapies for people diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. This audit is part of the OIG's oversight of the integrity and proper stewardship of Federal funds used to combat the opioid crisis.

The OIG investigated an allegation that Eric Rickerson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) State Supervisor, Lacey, WA, sexually assaulted an FWS employee while the two were at an FWS conference. The assaulted employee said that she, Rickerson, and a another male FWS employee shared a cabin with two bedrooms and a loft at the resort. The employee alleged that Rickerson came to her loft bedroom uninvited, exposed himself, and touched her inappropriately.We found that Rickerson entered the employee’s loft bedroom uninvited four times during the night, exposed himself to her multiple times, climbed into her bed naked, and touched her in a sexual manner more than once without her permission.We referred our findings to the Deschutes County District Attorney and on October 29, 2019, Rickerson pleaded guilty to felony coercion and misdemeanor sex abuse, harassment, intimidation, and private indecency. Rickerson was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 36 months supervised probation. He also must register as a sex offender and pay the employee $5,856.07 in restitution.The FWS suspended Rickerson without pay during the investigation and he resigned from his position with the FWS on November 5, 2019.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to evaluate allegations regarding a patient death following a urology procedure and conflicts of interest in hiring urologists at the facility. A facility urologist performed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) on a patient who died 25 days later. The patient did not have significant risk factors and was a suitable candidate for ESWL. The OIG found an abnormal pathology blood smear result in the electronic health record for the patient. The ordering provider failed to consult with the facility pathologist and address the abnormal pathology blood smear result with the patient. Several urologists were hired from a private practice that was associated with the Associate Chief of Staff for Acute Care Services (ACOS), which could be considered a violation of standards of ethical conduct for VA employees. However, the OIG determined that facility leaders other than the ACOS approved the hiring of the urologists to meet the needs of the facility and patients. The ACOS did not sign recruitment requests for the urologist positions. Urologists hired by the facility had ownership in a company associated with ESWL rental equipment. The OIG was unable to determine an increase in ESWL procedures was due to the urologists’ ownership interest in the company. Facility leaders were aware of the potential conflict of interest and sought guidance from the VA Office of General Counsel. Although the General Counsel found “no actual conflict of interest” given the facts offered, the OIG found that these facts may have contained inaccurate statements. The OIG found no evidence that facility urologists failed to respond when on call. The OIG made two recommendations relating to abnormal blood smear results and conflicts of interest.

OIG reviewed FNS’ controls over FDPIR household eligibility and administrative costs, as well as its controls to prevent damaged, spoiled, and lost food.