PILLS ON THE HILL

Congress’ Top Doc Is Out Amid Prescription Pill Scandal

Sailors allege that they were made to clip lawmakers’ toenails and deliver medication to their homes in the middle of the night.

The longtime physician of Congress has resigned amid a probe into his alleged dispensing of medications to lawmakers without prescriptions, among other things, a new report alleges.

Rear Adm. Brian Monahan, the attending physician for Congress since 2009, has stepped down amid a Pentagon inspector general probe into his allegedly “toxic” work environment, officials tell The Wall Street Journal.

Among the things reportedly being investigated is whether Monahan, 66, was “dispensing medications to lawmakers and their staff without prescriptions.” The Journal writes that he is also being probed for an alleged lack of oversight of controlled substances.

Details on what medications may have been dispensed without prescriptions have not been made public. In addition to Congress, Monahan, a two-star admiral, also served as the acting physician for Supreme Court justices.

Neither Monahan nor the Navy has publicly addressed the allegations. The Navy did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Officials told the Journal that Monahan’s conduct has been under investigation for more than a year, and Punchbowl reports that Monahan did not resign, but was dismissed from his post.

The Navy Times reported this week that U.S. sailors assigned to Congress’s medical office were recently reassigned amid an investigation into Monahan’s office. One sailor reportedly said they were made to clip a lawmaker’s toenails, among other abnormal tasks.

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Sailors assigned to Monahan’s Office of the Attending Physician allege they were made to work 70-80 hours a week by civilian supervisors and were threatened with the loss of bonuses if they requested leave, according to the Navy Times. That allegedly included requests for time off to be with loved ones who were hospitalized.

Some alleged to the outlet that these sorts of issues spanned more than a decade.

“We usually worked 12-hour shifts, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with duty every other day,” a former Navy hospital corpsman once assigned to the office told the Navy Times. “On duty days, if Congress stayed in session late, the duty crew stayed, too, sometimes until about 4 a.m. We still had to be back for a regular 6 a.m. shift.”

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Tasks during these shifts allegedly included odd requests like clipping toenails and personally delivering medications to lawmakers’ doorsteps in the middle of the night.

A civilian medical professional corroborated claims that sailors were asked to do tasks beyond what is typically expected of medical professionals.

“The men and women serving in this office are being asked to perform duties beyond those normally associated with their position,” the medical professional told the Navy Times. “Colleagues have been bringing up issues about this office for more than 10 years.”

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