Federal Reports

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program (CHIP) report highlights the results of a focused evaluation of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities’ medication management related to remdesivir use. The report describes medication management-related findings from healthcare inspections performed at 34 VHA medical facilities during fiscal year 2021. Each inspection involved interviews with key staff and reviews of clinical and administrative processes.The OIG found that VHA met many elements of expected performance, including the availability of staff to receive remdesivir shipments. However, the OIG found that VHA did not consistently provide patient/caregiver education for remdesivir or report adverse events to the Food and Drug Administration in accordance with Emergency Use Authorization requirements.Given the FDA’s approval of remdesivir for use in adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the OIG made no recommendations related to the Emergency Use Authorization requirements. However, because VHA facility staff continue to administer other medications under emergency use authorizations, the OIG issued one recommendation related to informing patients and caregivers when the medication is not FDA-approved; the option to refuse the medication; and the known risks, benefits, and alternatives prior to administration.

Darius Lopez, a resident of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, to fraud and related activity in connection with access devices on September 1, 2022. Lopez was arrested on April 15, 2021, by the Citrus County Sheriff’s Department for using counterfeit credit cards to purchase over $20,000 of landscaping equipment. At the time of his arrest, Lopez was in possession of numerous counterfeit credit cards, including a fake GSA SmartPay purchase card with a purchase card number that was issued to Amtrak. This investigation is being conducted jointly with the GSA Office of Inspector General.

This report contains information about recommendations from the OIG's audits, evaluations, reviews, and other reports that the OIG had not closed as of the specified date because it had not determined that the Department of Justice (DOJ) or a non-DOJ federal agency had fully implemented them. The list omits information that DOJ determined to be limited official use or classified, and therefore unsuitable for public release.The status of each recommendation was accurate as of the specified date and is subject to change. Specifically, a recommendation identified as not closed as of the specified date may subsequently have been closed.

This report presents a summary of the results of our self-initiated audits assessing mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at four select delivery units in the St. Louis, MO region (Project Number 22-115). These delivery units were the Saint Peters Main Post Office (MPO) and the Maryville Gardens, Chouteau, and Marian Oldham Stations. We judgmentally selected these delivery units based on the number of customer inquiries per route each unit received and Stop-the-Clock (STC) scans occurring at each delivery unit. We previously issued interim reports to district management for each of these units regarding the conditions we identified. In addition, we issued a report on the efficiency of operations at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) which services these four delivery units.All four delivery units are in the Kansas-Missouri District of the Central Area. These four delivery units have a combined total of 113 city routes and 40 rural routes. Staffing at the delivery units during our audit included 137 full-time city carriers, 28 city carrier assistants, 41 rural carriers, 14 rural replacement carriers, one assistant rural carrier, 26 full-time clerks, and eight postal support employees (see Table 1).

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Bradley Carrier Annex in Milwaukee, WI (Project Number 22-147-4), and responds to a request from Senator Tammy Baldwin asking for a review of delivery operations in the Milwaukee, WI area. The Bradley Carrier Annex is in the Wisconsin District of the Central Area and services ZIP Codes 53223 and 53224. These ZIP Codes serve about 50,706 people and are considered to be urban communities.1 We judgmentally selected the Bradley Carrier Annex based on the number of Stop-the-Clock (STC)2 scans occurring at the delivery unit, rather than at the customer’s point of delivery.

Number 22-147-3), and responds to a request from Senator Tammy Baldwin asking for a review of delivery operations in the Milwaukee, WI area. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Station is in the Wisconsin District of the Central Area and services ZIP Code 53212. This ZIP Code serves about 30,296 people and is considered to be an urban community.1 We judgmentally selected the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Station based on the number of Stop-the-Clock (STC)2 scans occurring at the delivery unit, rather than at the customer’s point of delivery.