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New: More than 2 dozen vets and half a dozen VA pharmacy staffers told me they're seeing veterans' USPS mail-order prescriptions delayed by weeks.

"We are swamped with patient complaints over delivery delays," one VA pharmacy chief said.

connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veter…
About 80% of VA outpatient prescriptions are delivered by mail, fulfilled at 7 massive, "highly automated" hub pharmacies.

So far, VA officials are providing little to no information about how the USPS delays are VA's mail-order prescription system.

connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veter…
This is all VA officials would tell me:
"VA always encourages veterans to order routine prescriptions in advance. When it comes to emergent prescriptions, VA fills them onsite or uses commercial carriers to ensure timely delivery."

connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veter…
Meanwhile, this is what vets and VA staff told me:
"What used to take days now takes weeks."
"This could be devastating."
"I received my life-saving medication 20 days late."
"We don't want to see someone get sicker or even die because of mail delays."

connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veter…
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More from @AbbieRBennett see all

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Abbie Bennett
@AbbieRBennett
New from @USGAO: In January 2017, Trump said he and VA would consult private citizens to help address VA issues. This raised questions about influence on VA’s decisions.
GAO found interactions between VA officials and private citizens in 2016 and 2018.
gao.gov/products/GAO-2…
@USGAO Background: connectingvets.radio.com/articles/congr…
@USGAO VA officials communicated with these 3 men with connections to the president about:
- Contract for a $16B electronic health record system
- Mobile app development
- Suicide prevention campaign
- Medical device registry
- Personnel decisions, including Under Secretary for Health
Read 30 tweets
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Abbie Bennett
@AbbieRBennett
This timeline from VA on how the department prepped for #coronavirus is wild and let me tell you why. Here's what it leaves out (this'll have to be a thread):
- Let's start with Feb. 27, when VASEC Wilkie turned down additional help from Congress. connectingvets.radio.com/articles/va-to…
This was followed by 4 weeks when VA did not communicate with the public, vets, VSOs or members of Congress as requested about a coronavirus plan.
All the while, VA leaders assured Congress they were prepared as the first veterans began testing positive.
connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veter…
VA began shutting down visitation at nursing homes and other facilities full of vulnerable veterans, but still was sharing few details of its plans by the first week of March. connectingvets.radio.com/articles/va-li…
Read 28 tweets
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Abbie Bennett
@AbbieRBennett
March 20 UPDATE:
- A second veteran has died of the virus.
- VA now tracking 130 cases of veterans testing positive for #Covid19. Up from 83 yesterday.
- VA also says it has administered "over 1,192 tests" nationwide.
connectingvets.radio.com/articles/va-is…
The first veteran to die of the virus was in Portland, Ore. The second was in White River Junction, Vt.
connectingvets.radio.com/articles/first…
I'll say it again: I'm hearing lots of accounts of other sick vets or veterans who have died because of the #coronavirus who are not on this list. I wish I had better answers for why VA did not include those on its list.
Read 4 tweets

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