The Veterans Affairs Department has procured billions of dollars worth of drugs, medical devices and other supplies without using written contracts or full and open competition.
VA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics Jan Frye told the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations May 14 that agency leaders have wasted $5 billion on illegal medical procurements and made a “mockery” of federal acquisition laws.
Frye said VA spent about $1.2 billion on prosthetics bought using purchase cards without any written contracts. That happened over a year-and-a-half period concluding at the the end of last year.
This is all “due to our inexcusable failure to acquire a substantial quantity of goods and services in accordance with federal laws and regulations,” Frye said.
The purchase card abuse was particularly egregious to lawmakers on the subcommittee questioning Frye.
Edward Murray, VA’s acting assistant secretary for management, said the agency has about 25,000 purchase cards in circulation and they were used to make about $3.7 billion in purchases in 2014.
Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/va-official-agency-spent-5b-medical-supplies-without-written-contracts/2015-05-15
