Veterans Medical Supply, Inc. (B-422168.4; B-422168.5)

You should not care.

Category: Corrective action, IDIQ scope, standing

Date: 11 July 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422168.4%2Cb-422168.5

Veterans Medical Supply, Inc. (VMS), protested the VA’s corrective action relating to the establishment of BPAs under RFQ No. 36C24123Q0765 for the VA’s Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) program. The protest arose after the agency canceled VMS’s BPA for rollators (a form of reusable medical equipment) on determining these were outside the scope of the underlying Gen-Z V1 IDIQ contract, which only covered consumable medical equipment. VMS argued the cancelation was improper because the rollators appeared on the MSPV Product List, and that the contracting officer exceeded her authority by determining scope without ratification from the Medical Supply Program Office.

Agency discretion in corrective action: GAO reiterated that agencies have broad discretion to take appropriate corrective action to remedy procurement errors and that implementation details are largely within the agency’s sound judgment.

Scope determination and authority: Here, the Gen-Z V1 IDIQ’s statement of work expressly excluded reusable medical equipment not necessary to support consumable supplies. The contracting officer, vested with final scope authority, reasonably determined rollators were excluded; the Medical Supply Program Office later concurred.

Product list vs. scope of contract: GAO found no impropriety in the agency’s process for updating the product list, especially as the agency explained there is a lag (“60-day stockout period”) between decision and removal, to avoid government loss from inventory.

Standing and challenge to other awards: GAO held the protester was not an interested party regarding other BPAs, as VMS did not propose on those items.

The protest was denied. GAO found the agency’s correction was both reasonable and appropriate to remedy the procurement’s initial error.

Digest

Protest challenging the agency's corrective action taken in response to an earlier protest is denied where the record shows the corrective action was reasonable and appropriate to remedy the procurement error identified by the agency.