DEA targets prescription drug abuse in Montana

The Drug Enforcement Agency is auditing Indian Health Service facilities in Montana in a probe of prescription drug abuse, The Great Falls Tribune reports.

The DEA has completed audits on the Blackfeet, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Rocky Boy's and Fort Belknap reservations. The Fort Peck Reservation is apparently being looked at.

"What we're hearing is that reservations have a horrendous drug problem and we want to know where it's coming from, where the source is," Jim Tilley, the resident agent-in-charge of the DEA's Billings field office, told the Tribune.

Edwin "Sooney" Little Plume, the tribal health and social services chairman for the Blackfeet Nation, welcomed the probe. He said prescription drug abuse "has really suppressed our people."

Get the Story:
DEA audits state's Indian clinics (The Great Falls Tribune 9/14)

Inspector General Reports:
Indian Health Service’s Resolution of Audit Recommendations | Safeguards Over Controlled Substances at Lawton Indian Hospital | Safeguards Over Controlled Substances at Santa Fe Indian Hospital | Safeguards Over Controlled Substances at Anadarko Indian Health Center | Safeguards Over Controlled Substances at Santo Domingo Indian Health Center | Safeguards Over Controlled Substances at W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital

Relevant Links:
Indian Health Service - http://www.ihs.gov

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