VA Says Veterans Sneak Drugs into VA?

Veterans can be ‘diabolical’ while sneaking drugs into VA facilities, official says

The Enterprise

Tom Relihan

August 21, 2017

They’ve found it hidden in patients’ ears, and in the pages of a book.

Following the overdose death of a Saucier, Mississippi, Marine Corps veteran at the Brockton Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in March, U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch said hospital administrators have assured him they’ve taken steps to improve security at the Belmont Street facility.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass. Carolyn Kaster AP File

But, the drug that caused the incident, fentanyl, is so potent that lethal doses can be difficult to detect, he said.

Hank Brandon Lee, a retired lance corporal and mortarman in the Marine Corps, traveled from his home in Mississippi to Boston during a black-out period brought on by severe post-traumatic stress disorder in February, according to VA records obtained by The Enterprise. 

He was admitted to the Brockton campus’s psychiatric ward to undergo treatment, but was found unresponsive in early March. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Center, and his autopsy report later revealed the cause of death as acute fentanyl intoxication. 

Exactly how Lee was able to acquire and consume the drug inside the ward is still unclear.read more here