COVER STORY
ciations, drug manufacturers, and
TO CATCH A THIEF
The pharmacy industry is arming itself
with new programs to combat theft
n May 25, 2004, a 34-year-old
O male employee at a Rite Aid
pharmacy in Coney Island,
Brooklyn, N.Y., confronted a cus-
tomer who appeared to be stealing
razors and blades. A struggle en-
Photo: Jon Gray/Getty Images
44 DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004
sued. The employee was stabbed
and later pronounced dead. This
tragedy underscores the dire need
for industrywide programs to pre-
vent pharmacy theft as well as to
apprehend and arrest criminals.
In addition to causing physical
injury and death, pharmacy crimes
take a huge toll on pharmacies’ bot-
tom lines. While figures are hard to
come by, one industry expert esti-
mates shoplifting incidents cost the
pharmacy industry about $2 billion
a year. So what’s being done to curb
pharmacy thefts?
Pharmacy and hospital trade asso-
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the Drug Enforcement Adminis-
tration have all recently launched
programs aimed at nabbing crooks
who steal controlled substances,
prescription drugs, or over-the-
counter products from pharma-
cies.
How do these new programs
operate? How effective are they in
helping to apprehend burglars,
robbers, and shoplifters? What
can pharmacies do to protect
themselves from becoming vic-
tims of theft?
On the prowl for shoplifters
The newest program on the block
is designed to thwart shoplift-
ing. Dubbed Retail Alert Network
(RAN), the program is the brain-
child of the National Association of
Chain Drug Stores and is being
launched this month.
Steve Perlowski, VP of industry
affairs at NACDS, explained that
the program, which has been in
development for two years, offers
pharmacies and other retailers a
database for reporting incidents of
theft as well as a system for send-
ing out alerts when a retail crime
occurs. Alerts, which are free for
NACDS members, may be re-
ceived via e-mail, text message, or
fax. Nonmembers may subscribe
to the system, but, at press time,
the amount of the fee had not
been finalized. The association
has partnered with Cap Index,
a Pennsylvania firm that per-
forms theft prediction based
on crime statistics, to offer
RAN.
Emphasizing that phar-
macy crime is organized,
Perlowski said that Cap
Index would analyze inci-
dents and predict where
crime is heading and what
products criminals are seeking.
“If you have an understanding of
the types of crimes occurring in
your marketplace and you also
have trend analysis, you can
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defend your store better. It’s in
everybody’s best interest to under-
stand what is going on in the mar-
ketplace so that they can do things
to make their store safer,” he said.
NACDS also worked with DEA to
develop a program to enable mem-
bers to electronically submit manda-
tory 106 forms to the agency to re-
port loss of controlled substances.
Retailers can also electronically sub-
mit 106 forms to report employee
theft. The alert will not reveal the
company’s name. It will indicate
only the type of retailer and the loca-
tion where the incident occurred.
Pointing out that professional
shoplifters fill “picking orders”
from “fences” for a wide range of
pricey OTCs, Perlowski said that
hot items on their list often include
acetaminophen, shaving needs,
batteries, OTC cough and cold
medicines, infant formula, and
smoking-cessation products. These
products are cleaned, repackaged,
and reintroduced for sale at flea
markets, he explained. The per-
petrators have “a fairly sophis-
ticated distribution system.
Ninety-eight percent of the
merchandise at flea markets
is stolen merchandise, and it
could be counterfeit mer-
chandise,” he added.
Perlowski said the RAN
system tracks theft by indi-
Bottom photos: Stephen E. Munz
vidual product, product
category, and manufac-
turer. Once incidents
are filed on-line or via
an 800-number, RAN
will be able to glean de-
DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004 45
COVER STORY
tails about a store’s security, such
as whether it has closed-circuit TV,
an alarm, guards on duty, and
electronic vertical surveillance
(EVS) antitheft tags on front-end
products.
Reports will be generated on a
regular basis for members, in-
forming them of what type of
crimes are occurring by market
and whether any trends have been
discovered. “We’re now demon-
strating that shoplifting is an orga-
nized crime, so we’re also working
with other trade associations to
enact laws to make shoplifting a
major felony,” said Perlowski.
Sen. Larry Craig (R, Idaho) is
one legislator who has introduced
a bill to make organized retail
theft a federal felony. “We’re
working on developing a sister bill
in the House,” said Perlowski. In
the meantime, he believes the
RAN program will create a
better relationship between
retailers and law enforce-
ment officials and that the
latter will provide resources
to make stores safer as
they become more educated
46 DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004
about the magnitude of the prob-
lem.
Theft of narcotics and OTCs
Another new pharmacy loss pre-
vention program to come on the
scene recently is RxPatrol (Rx Pat-
tern Analysis Tracking Robberies
and Other Losses). The program
was launched in May 2003 by Stam-
ford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma,
manufacturer of oxycodone (Oxy-
Contin). The program was original-
ly intended to deter robberies and
burglaries of controlled substances,
but it was recently expanded to
include theft of OTC products.
How does RxPatrol work? Rx-
Patrol enables police officers and
pharmacies to file crime reports at
www.RxPatrol.com. It provides law
enforcement authorities in different
jurisdictions with a tool to collect,
analyze, and share information on
pharmacy robberies so they
can work together to appre-
hend and prosecute thieves.
The program partners in-
clude DEA, FBI-LEEDA
(Law Enforcement Executive
Development Association),
and the National Community Phar-
macists Association.
According to Aaron Graham, VP
of corporate security at Purdue
Pharma, more than 300 theft reports
have been filed on RxPatrol.com
since the database system was
launched. Theft reports are then sent
to the captain of the Stamford Police
Department. Graham explained that
the captain looks for unique charac-
teristics of an incident and compares
these characteristics with other simi-
lar robberies, burglaries, or incidents
that he remembers or that have been
filed in the database. Incidents are
communicated to the National Asso-
ciation of Drug Diversion Investiga-
tors, NCPA, American Pharmacists
Association, and FBI-LEEDA.
“The program is beneficial be-
cause it enables police officers to
discuss cases with the captain, who
is an experienced police officer. He
offers suggestions as to what the
officers should be looking for,” said
Graham. He credited RxPatrol with
leading police to arrest five suspects
in a pharmacy robbery in Durham,
N.C., recently. The robbery was car-
ried out by three armed robbers
who held employees at gunpoint
and stole Schedule II and III nar-
cotics with an estimated street
value of more than $23,000 from a
CVS pharmacy on June 10, 2003.
Graham said that a detective from
the Raleigh police department had
arrested two individuals for Rx
fraud; they had information about
the CVS robbery. The two informants
identified two people behind the
robbery. The detective contacted
RxPatrol with the suspects’ descrip-
tion and issued an alert. The regional
loss prevention manager of CVS
read the alert and notified RxPatrol
that there might be a match. The
Raleigh and Durham police depart-
ments worked together to locate and
arrest the suspects, who are currently
awaiting trial for the alleged crime.
RxPatrol has also communicated
to Massachusetts police that three
robberies in the state appear to be
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 COVER STORY COVER STORY

related. No arrests have been made Tom Stone, executive director of FBI- pharmacy robbery as just another sonnel are beginning to examine
yet. LEEDA, applauded the firm for robbery; nobody ever put the big how they can improve security ASHP developing guidelines
RxPatrol’s partner FBI-LEEDA, launching RxPatrol. The program, picture together. We are seeing a within their own department. It
based in Chester, Pa., helps RxPatrol he said, helps any pharmaceutical pattern in which organized people was a well-planned scheme in a
on drug security
SHP’s Council on Administrative Affairs recently voted to develop an
disseminate information about rob-
beries to its 3,000 members in the
company whose drugs are stolen for
resale on the streets.
hit one area and move to another
area. The stages of that tracking are
well-run hospital. People realize if
it can happen there, it can happen A ASHP Guideline on Drug Security and Control—a compilation of
systems and procedures that will prevent drug theft and diversion in
law enforcement community and Indicating that there has been a just beginning now with the data in their place as well. If you look at
encourages its members to share spike in the theft of painkillers, that are coming in, and we are the whole issue around counterfeit- health systems. The council suggested that a guideline address the fol-
information with nonmembers. mind-altering drugs, and opiate- excited about analyzing those ing and threats to the supply chain, lowing factors:
Noting that Purdue Pharma’s based drugs, Stone said RxPatrol data,” he said. this is one of the multiple ways Physical considerations
oxycodone is one of the hottest con- enables the police to connect inci- drugs can get reintroduced into the • Installing cameras in high-risk areas
trolled substances frequently stolen, dents. “A lot of police looked at a Hospitals, too, are involved supply chain.” •Using identification cards or keys that track access to restricted areas
ASHP is not standing on the side- •Employing automated supply stations where additional controls are
lines when it comes to loss preven- DEA spreads the word needed
Tips on how to keep tion. The society’s Council on Ad- A recent spike in the number of • Utilizing locked perpetual inventory when appropriate
pharmacy crime at bay ministrative Affairs recently voted pharmacy theft and robberies of •Keeping stock in a visible and monitored location
to develop an ASHP Guideline on controlled substances nationwide •Delivering drugs directly to the pharmacy, not to a loading dock
harmacies can protect themselves from
P becoming victims of crime. Aaron Graham, VP
of security at Purdue Pharma, urged pharmacies
Drug Security and Control in order
to describe systems and procedures
has prompted DEA to revise an
educational program it had devel-
•Altering drug packages for products in inventory to make them less
resalable (e.g., mark box with hospital name, tear off box tops)
that would prevent drug theft and oped in the late ’70s. The revised •Completely destroying empty drug packages and vials so that they
to install closed-circuit TV, as well as alarm and
diversion in health systems (see box DEA Pharmacy Theft Prevention can’t be removed from the trash, refilled with counterfeit product,
security systems.
on page 49). Program has been spearheaded by and reintroduced into the supply chain
“What we see routinely is pharmacies that don’t • Removing drugs from floor stock if considered at risk for theft
make appropriate security enhancements after Douglas Scheckelhoff, R.Ph., Mary Johnson-Rochee, a diversion
being victimized are victimized again. If you don’t director of pharmacy practice at investigator/staff coordinator for Process improvements
have systems such as closed-circuit TV in place at ASHP, said the association is moni- the Office of Diversion Control. • Reconciling dispensing volumes with purchasing records and with
first, you are victimized about 75% more frequently toring the growing trend of hospi- Rochee explained that the new patient administration records
than if you do,” warned Graham. tals that are installing different types effort mirrors the former program, • Limiting the number of staff involved in purchasing and receiving process
RxPatrol has partnered with SST Security, a of technology within the pharmacy which was basically an alert sys- • Placing of drug orders should not be done by same staff signing or
technical devices vendor, to offer a discounted to prevent theft and improve inven- tem between the pharmacy com- receiving inventory
package price for closed-circuit TVs, recording tory control. Many hospitals are munity and the public. The pro- • Using sequential purchase order numbers to increase accountability
devices, and monitors for the pharmacy industry. putting in automated vertical re- gram involved cooperation and
•Using invoice approval as additional verification of appropriate purchasing
Graham cited the case in which a robbery sus- trieval systems that allow them to sharing of information among
Graham store a fair amount of inventory in a many federal, state, and local enti- • Standardizing administration times for high-risk drugs to the greatest
pect, who committed more than 60 pharmacy rob- extent possible, allowing the pharmacy to dispense the product at
beries in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio and who pleaded guilty to a federal small space, while limiting access to ties to provide a networking sys-
that inventory without having to tem. The new program is also an one time per day to improve control
indictment in Indiana and received more than 30 years in federal prison, told
investigators he targeted pharmacies without closed-circuit TVs. “He told them put a lock on a room. “We are devel- offshoot of DEA’s 2002 OxyContin • Tracking purchases using wholesaler reports to detect unusual buys
he and his wife did the robberies together. He sent her to the pharmacy to see oping a number of resources phar- Plan, which addressed widespread (e.g., unexplained spikes in purchases of a given drug)
whether it had closed-circuit TV. If it did, they went elsewhere,” he said. macies can use as they remodel or abuse and deaths from OxyContin
Graham advised pharmacies to place a closed-circuit TV focused on the build new facilities so that they can through education and working ment, including statistics that illus- oped books, posters, and brochures
counter where the alleged criminals can see themselves being taped. “You build in security measures on the with various communities to better trate the extent of the pharmaceutical to explain the problem of pharmacy
want to create a deterrent. If the criminal walks into a pharmacy and sees his front end,” he said. track information. drug abuse, diversion, and theft thefts and robberies.
face on TV, he will assume there’s a tape in the TV and go somewhere else.” In addition to controlled sub- Rochee explained that DEA’s theft- problem. DEA relies on its inspectors Pointing out that, as of February,
Another case cited by Graham took place in New Hampshire. A local resi- stances, hospitals have recently reporting database tracks informa- to distribute the literature and ask DEA has tallied 62,000 retail phar-
dent who regularly visited a particular pharmacy went into the corner of the become concerned about theft of tion as it’s reported to DEA, so that pharmacies to work with their phar- macies as registrants, Rochee said,
store and put on a ski mask. He robbed the pharmacy and then left the high-cost noncontrolled substances. the agency can look at different loca- macy board to set up pharmacy theft “When pharmacies start getting
store. The pharmacist, who had a closed-circuit TV, reviewed the tape and “When you have drug products that tions nationwide and see the extent programs in their area. threatened and think about shutting
was able to identify the robber to the police. “If the closed-circuit TV doesn’t are $500 to $1,000 per unit, suddenly of the problem. DEA’s new program DEA is also working with phar- their doors, it threatens the availabil-
serve as a deterrent, at least we have something to give to the police to catch they have a different type of street has the agency going out in the field macy boards to incorporate continu- ity of drugs to the end user.” While
the bad guy,” asserted Graham. value,” Scheckelhoff said. and giving presentations to pharma- ing education with regard to phar- she named Boston, Florida, Pennsyl-
Tom Stone, executive director of FBI-LEEDA, noted that most robberies Commenting on the recent inves- cy groups as well as to state, local, macy theft programs. “We lay out vania, and parts of the Midwest as
occur when a store is getting ready to close. He advised having a cell phone tigation into pharmaceutical diver- and federal bodies and DEA field the program and tell our audiences problem areas in terms of pharmacy
Photo: Star Ledger

backup to the store’s alarm system in case the criminals cut the hardwire sion of noncontrolled drugs at Uni- counterparts to solicit their participa- that what we have put together rep- theft, she asserted that if a locale
telephones during a night break-in. “The cell phone should trip the alarm if versity of Texas M. D. Anderson tion in the program. The presenta- resents a blueprint that can be struc- doesn’t have a problem with phar-
they deactivated the alarm that is run on the phone lines,” stated Stone. Cancer Center, Scheckelhoff said, tion includes a historical perspective tured according to a specific area’s macy theft, it’s only a matter of time
“It’s a wake-up call. Hospital per- on federal drug law and law enforce- needs,” said Rochee. DEA has devel- before it does, especially if it is sur-

48 DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004 www.drugtopics.com www.drugtopics.com DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004 49
COVER STORY

rounded by areas where there are day. While a version of hydrocodone

problems. is the No. 1 drug that shows up on
What steps can pharmacies take the report, the muscle relaxant Soma
to protect themselves from theft? and the analgesic tramadol are also
Rochee said DEA advises pharma- high on the list.
cies not to keep an abundance of ation launched RxAlert, a daily fax According to Baker, Department
stock on hand. “Thieves network and e-mail program for R.Ph.s, doc- of Health and Environment Control
about which pharmacies you can go tors, and law enforcement officials to agents and state inspectors for the
into easily. We had 50 robberies in report incidents of prescription drug bureau of drug control who receive
one state that took place within a 16- forgeries, doctor- and pharmacy- the reports have told the association
month period. These robberies were shopping, and diversion of controlled that they are a wonderful aid in
being perpetrated by a married cou- and noncontrolled substances. doing their job. “One agent from the
ple, and they were taking OxyContin Jennifer Baker, Pharm.D., manager upstate area told us that one-third of
to get high. This area did not have a of professional affairs at the S.C. his arrests since the program started
pharmacy theft program in place. Pharmacy Association, compiles a have been aided by RxAlert,” she
This is the fallout because nobody daily report of the incidents. The said.
was sharing video footage, pho- report, which is sent by fax and In a separate but related develop-
tographs, or tag numbers,” she said. e-mail, is received by more than ment, the association recently an-
1,000 recipients in law enforcement. nounced that it is partnering with
How states are combating crime “We’ve been able to track a lot of RxPatrol and will serve as the South
Ohio attorney general Jim Petro has trends across the state. Most of the Carolina vehicle (see Drug Topics,
set up the Ohio Law Enforcement reports have been for doctor- and June 21) for RxPatrol in terms of the
Gateway (OHLEG), a secure Web pharmacy-shopping, so you see the reports coming in for RxAlert. “We
site for Ohio law enforcement offi- same patient names popping up in will send reports from South Caroli-
cials at www.OHLEG.org. different pharmacies across the na pharmacies to RxPatrol. We will
Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for states,” she said. also provide access for our pharma-
Petro, said the Ohio attorney gener- RxAlert has had more than 200 cists to RxPatrol on our Web site at
al’s office is joining forces with incident reports since its inception. www.scrx.org,” said Baker.
RxPatrol. “We felt that it would be In May, the network received an While loss prevention programs
helpful if we could have a search- average of three incident reports a vary somewhat in their approach to
able database. We are deterring pharmacy theft,
working with RxPatrol to they appear to have one
create such a database
What to do … thing in common. The pro-
through our gateway for During a robbery grams depend on commu-
all thefts all over the coun- • Do not resist! Cooperate fully with the robber. nication and education
• Always do exactly as you are told.
try. Law enforcement will • Do not fight or threaten. among concerned groups
be able to search thefts • Try to remain calm and avoid sudden movements. for their success in com-
rather than look at indi- • Do not attempt to apprehend the criminal yourself. bating pharmacy crimes.
vidual postings,” she said. • Be able to make an identification, observe the person(s) Rochee summed up the
Norris said the Ohio involved. importance of commu-
State Board of Pharmacy • Don’t trust your memory, record all information. nication and education
has proposed legislation in Following a robbery among law enforcement
Ohio to prevent doctor- • Immediately get treatment for anyone who may be injured. and various groups in the
shopping for drugs. “They • Sound the alarm as soon as feasible. community best when she
are looking to have a • Call the police, then your supervisor/manager. said, “These liaison rela-
searchable database that • Lock the doors immediately to prevent reentry and keep tionships that we are sup-
them closed until the police arrive.
would show, for example, • Request that customers remain in the store to give state- posed to have in place can
if someone got prescrip- ments to the police. only make our pharmacies
tions for OxyContin from • Protect the crime scene. Stop others from touching any- safer places to work and to
four doctors. Doctors thing touched by the suspect(s). visit to get prescriptions
would be able to go on-line • Do not discuss the crime with anyone on the scene until filled and help to ensure
and see whether that is you talk with the police. that there are adequate
• Notify all who need to know as mandated by your company
occurring,” she said. In policy.
drugs available to the pub-
October 2003, the South Source: Drug Enforcement Administration Pharmacy Theft Prevention Program lic as needed.”
Carolina Pharmacy Associ- Sandra Levy

50 DRUG TOPICS JULY 12 2004 www.drugtopics.com