Employee theft of prescription drugs are on the rise – Atlanta Georgia

I recently became a member of NADDI (National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators) and attended my first conference.  I was blown away by all of the other stores with pharmacies who were discussing the employee theft of drugs.  A recent study conducted by the GBI showed that last year in the state of Georgia, deaths related to drugs were almost 5 to 1 prescription drugs versus illicit drugs.  Yep.  You read that right.  Based on the study a significant majority of people died on legal drugs instead of illegal drugs.

One of the major ways that these legal drugs are making their way on the street is due to internal theft.  The street value for narcotics is huge.  Depending on the drug there are some that are selling for $25-$50 a pill.  As an employee of a pharmacy, if you steal a 100 count bottle of most any schedule 3 pain medicine (lower street value, but also reduced security) you can expect to get roughly $500 or more for that one little bottle.  With the money to be made it is easy to see why internal theft is so high in this area.

Another major reason for employee theft of these medications is personal addiction.  Many pharmacy employees become tempted to self medicate since they are around pills all day and they know what “good feeling” they can deliver.  There are an alarming number of techs and pharmacists who are users themselves and steal to support their habits.

If you run a pharmacy or have one inside your business (as most grocery stores do) it is important to conduct a routine employee theft investigation.  An employee theft investigation can be done in several ways.  It can include routine drug testing.  You can also use covert cameras to monitor areas the employees don’t think are covered.  Finally, you can do routine counts of the “high theft” items to track discrepancies.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia