Rolling Stone broke bombshell news on a damning new report from the Department of Defense Inspector General that, according to the publication, shows White House pharmacists reportedly distributed uppers and downers like candy to Trump administration officials during his time in office.
The document, released on January 8th and spanning a whopping 80 pages, found that “all phases of the White House Medical Unit’s pharmacy operations had severe and systemic problems due to the unit’s reliance on ineffective internal controls to ensure compliance with pharmacy safety standards.”
The investigation into these practices was first launched in 2018 after multiple complaints were made to the Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) about widespread, improper medical practices within the White House Medical Unit. That investigation ultimately uncovered a myriad of not only compliance issues, but serious improper safety standards.
The report on the investigation covers a period between 2009 and 2018. However, the majority of the findings that outlined critical issues were between 2017 and 2019, the height of Donald Trump’s administration.
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With Trump at the helm of the White House, the report revealed a pharmacy full of sloppy, handwritten medical records, outlandish spending to the tune of 5 figures on name-brand medications, and a resounding failure to comply with a wide variety of federal laws and Department of Defense regulations that govern the handling, distribution, and disposal of prescription medication.
Following multiple in-person inspections of the facilities and more than 120 interviews with White House officials, the DoD report determined “that the White House Medical Unit provided a wide range of health care and pharmaceutical services to ineligible White House staff in violation of Federal law and regulation and DoD policy. Additionally, the White House Medical Unit dispensed prescription medications, including controlled substances, to ineligible White House staff.”
One witness who spoke with the DoD OIG revealed that WH pharmacy staff was expected to prepare go-bags for Trump admin staff ahead of overseas trips.
“One of our requirements was to go ahead and make packets up for the controlled medications. And those would typically be Ambien or Provigil and typically both,” the witness admitted. “So we would normally make these packets of Ambien and Provigil, and a lot of times they’d be in like five tablets in a zip‑lock bag. And so traditionally, too, we would hand these out.”
Provigil is a stimulant used to treat narcolepsy and Ambien is a well-known sedative used for severe insomnia. Both drugs are classified as controlled substances in the US.
Rolling Stone concluded in their report:
In its conclusion, the DoD OIG recommended that the Director of the Defense Health Agency aid the White House in developing more robust policies for the control and management of prescription medication. Additionally, the report suggests that the White House ‘establish controls for White House patient eligibility within the Military Health System,’ and that the unit be placed under an oversight plan headed by senior health officials in the Department of Defense.
Hopefully, if implemented, the recommendations will prevent the White House from operating as a pill mill for the executive branch in future administrations.”
Read the full report from Rolling Stone here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
