The White House’s Rampant Drug Use Exposed: Whistleblowers Say the President’s Pharmacy – Run by ‘Dr. Feelgood’ – distributed stimulants to assistants in zip-lock bags using false aliases
Whistleblowers have confirmed reports of misconduct at the White House pharmacy, alleging the department dispensed controlled substances to staff without a prescription, used aliases to obscure patients’ identities and provided free care.
The four whistleblowers, former employees of the White House Medical Unit (WHMU), said the team distributed sedatives and stimulants without proper prescriptions under both former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
They also revealed that the unit provided free medical equipment and imaging to staffers who did not qualify for such services and used aliases in electronic medical records to conceal patients’ identities and offer free healthcare services.
The claims serve as confirmation of findings in a January report from the The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense.
That report concluded that the WHMU committed “serious and systematic” violations of protocol, used taxpayer dollars to unnecessarily purchase expensive brand-name drugs and provided care and medication to unsuitable staff.
Investigators found a note from March 2014 with instructions to distribute medications, “including all controlled substances,” to representatives of patients for whom the medications were intended “without the need to show the patient’s identification card.”
The White House Medical Unit is overseen by the White House Military Office
The former employees told The Washington Post the unlawful practices were implemented under the leadership of Dr. Ronny Jackson, who led the unit during the Obama administration.
He later became Trump’s personal physician and spent fourteen years in the White House.
They told the Post that Dr.’s illicit practices. Jackson under Trump worsened.
Under its guidelines, the WHMU was to primarily serve the president, vice president, their families, and military personnel.
Dr. However, Jackson expanded the unit’s medical care to a “care-by-proxy” theory, extending services and medications to a population well beyond the original guideline.
He wrote in his memoirs, “I ended up taking care of the entire West Wing, the East Wing, and everyone who supported them.”
According to a separate 2018 complaint, a whistleblower alleged that the doctor, now a Republican congressman, went by the nicknames “Candyman” and “Dr. Feelgood’ for providing medical care and medication without following established protocol.
Dr. Jackson has pushed back on these claims, stating that White House lawyers have signed off on his practices and that his team has prescribed narcotics “less than five times.”
The January DoD report was based on data and regulations from 2017 to 2019 — when Trump was in office — and interviews with more than 120 officials, including military suppliers and pharmacists.
It said: “All phases of the White House Medical Unit pharmacy operations had serious and systemic problems.”
The report states that a handwritten note was found from March 2014 – when Obama was in office – with instructions to distribute medications, “including all controlled substances,” to patient representatives for whom the medications were intended “without the need to show the patient’s identity. card.’
Above is an example of the WHMU registration form for the receipt of controlled substances
Above are examples of prescriptions for WHMU controlled substances
Controlled substances require a prescription, special handling under Drug Enforcement Administration regulations, and careful registration by pharmacies because they pose a risk of dependence and abuse.
Investigators also found that practitioners at the clinic, which is overseen by the White House Military Office and the Pentagon, distributed medications to people who did not qualify for medical services.
The report stated: “Medical providers in the White House Medical Unit wrote prescriptions for controlled substances, often missing the medical provider and patient information required by DEA policy.
“The dispensing practices did not comply with the Navy Medical Department Manual (which) requires that prescriptions be filled only for eligible beneficiaries with a valid identification check and the guidelines prohibit dispensing over-the-counter medications – such as Tylenol and cold medicines – without a prescription. ‘
Among the controlled medications processed by the White House pharmacy were Ambien, used to treat insomnia, and Provigil, a stimulant to treat excessive sleepiness.
And over-the-counter medications were left in “open bins” for people to take as and when they wanted.
One witness told investigators that the medical unit would prepare “pre-packs of medications” for several staff members prior to overseas travel, containing a mix of medications in plastic bags.
A witness statement in the report reads: “That’s usually Ambien or Provigil and usually both…often it’s like five tablets in a ziplock bag. Traditionally we handed these out.’
The witness added: ‘often the senior staff would come by or their staff representatives… would come by the residency clinic to pick it up.
“And it was very much a, ‘Hey, I’m here to pick this up for Mrs. And the expectation was that we would just pass it on.”
According to the report, the clinic had approximately 60 patients under its care but provided “health care by proxy” to 6,000 White House and government employees and contractors.
In its conclusion, the DoD recommended that the unit be placed under an “oversight plan” led by senior health officials within the department.
And Pentagon officials told the Post that “new staffing and reforms were being implemented” within the medical unit under President Joe Biden’s administration.