This past spring saw the revelation that hundreds of thousands of veterans were subjected to extremely long wait times for medical care — or were even never given any care at all — by VA hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. While that scandal has yet to be resolved, internal VA emails obtained by a FOIA request now show that some of the veterans who did manage to get care were treated with counterfeit, potentially dangerous medical supplies.
The equipment was purchased by the VA from Johnson & Johnson, which in turn purchased it from "gray market" suppliers. One surgical supply, for instance, "was sent to VA without a box and was instead wrapped in yellowed packaging and rubber bands," reports The Washington Times, which could cause the product to degrade or become contaminated.