Get Marty: Veteran's Medication Lost In The Mail
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – John Fazio's walks are measured in steps – not distance.
Every movement, every moment there is pain.
The Vietnam vet is disabled and suffers from severe arthritis.
Everyday Fazio takes little purple and white morphine pills to dull the pain. Without the pills, he says the pain is unbearable.
"I take these two today and that's tomorrow's pills and that's it," he says.
The pills may run out, but the pain is not going anywhere.
"These days I can't," he says. "My knees are shot."
Fazio's pill shortage problem begins and ends at the McKeesport Post Office. Sources confirm his pills were lost or stolen there. And according to sources, it looks like an inside job.
The problem for Fazio is he can't get any answers. First he called the McKeesport Post Office.
"This guy at the post office was supposed to call back four times," he said, "never did."
Fazio then tried the office of the inspector general – a postal service police of sorts.
"I spent 15 minutes listening to elevator music and postal commercials," he said.
That's when KDKA's Marty Griffin got involved.
"People told me you would get to the bottom of it," Fazio told Griffin.
Turns out, Fazio's case isn't the only one. Sources confirm multiple cases of controlled substances, shipped through the mail, apparently were stolen at the same post office in the last few months. They were packages containing substances such as OxyContin and morphine.
Sources confirm Fazio's morphine prescription was scanned into the McKeesport Post Office and never left the building. Sources confirm the same scenario with several other prescriptions.
"I mean, this is our government for god sake," Fazio said. "I mean, who do we have faith in? I mean, I don't have much faith in the government anyways, but I didn't know it was this damn bad."
KDKA reached out to the local post office and the office of the inspector general. We received a statement from Special Agent Scott Balfour, saying:
"Special agents with the US Postal Service of Inspector General consider allegations of mail theft a serious issue. Agency policy precludes me from commenting on any investigations we may or may not be conducting."
Although we did learn some information for Fazio. There's now an internal investigation that involves several cases and the inspector general's office is now involved.
We also learned people were keeping a close eye on Fazio's next morphine delivery. The morphine arrived while we were at his home.
Fazio said it was a relief to get the medication.
"Oh yeah, that's a whole month's supply," he said.
Have a problem and need to Get Marty? Be sure to email him at getmarty@kdka.com.
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