Marco Rubio to VA secretary: Employees who steal narcotics 'should be fired'

Orlando Sentinel ^ | April 26, 2017 | By Naseem S. Miller

[Brad from Tennessee]

Some lawmakers want to give the VA secretary more authority to fire bad VA employees, including those who steal controlled substances.

“VA employees who illegally divert or steal controlled substances are harming our families and communities,” wrote Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. in a letter to the VA Secretary David Shulkin, on Thursday. “They should be fired and denied taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Rubio has introduced legislation to help the VA secretary to discipline, demote and terminate employees, removing some of the rules and laws that currently bar him from doing so.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability First Act has passed the House and is currently in the Senate.

“Drug addiction and opioid abuse has risen sharply in several parts of Florida, and I am concerned that the losses and theft will contribute to the number of deadly overdoses our law enforcement officials and first responders are working hard to reduce,” Rubio wrote.

Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported a sharp increase in opioid theft and missing prescriptions linked to VA employees.

More recently the department disclosed to another Florida lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, that five Florida VA medical centers, including the Orlando VA Medical Center, lost prescription narcotics in-house or in the mail in 2016.

None of the five VA employees linked with the loss of prescription narcotics were fired. . .

[GreenHornet]

employees who steal anything need to be fired

Absolutely. In the private sector, if you steal from your employer, whether is narcotics or office supplies, you're outta there.

[elpadre]

then bite the bullet = every contract provides a means for change and it is time management stiffened their spine. For the sake of the company, for the sake of the government, make changes so that every organization can become lean (and mean).