DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND VA's FAILURE TO COOPERATE HAS COST AMERICANS $300 MILLION

Here's another audit from the General Accounting Office that shows how more of our money is being wasted. This latest study shows that the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs frittered away $300 million in 1999 by purchasing prescription drugs independently.

Together, the two departments spent $2.4 billion on drugs last year. With that kind of combined buying clout, the GAO said, they both could have negotiated deep discounts that would have produced sizable savings.

The agencies did cooperate -- a little. They made combined purchases for a mere 2 percent of the needed drugs. But VA and defense officials said joint purchasing might force some patients to change medications. Even if those cases were accommodated, there still would be huge savings. To us. The taxpayers. The ones who pay for government arrogance.