Flagstaff, Ariz. • U.S. government hospitals placed Native American patients at increased risk for opioid abuse and overdoses, failing to follow their own protocols for prescribing and dispensing the drugs, according to a federal audit made public Monday.
The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General does not draw conclusions about actual abuse or overdoses. But it said all five Indian Health Service hospitals that were reviewed had patients who were given opioids in amounts exceeding federal guidelines.
"There are vulnerabilities with this particular population in the opioid prescribing and dispensing practices," said Carla Lewis, one of the auditors.