Employees are 2nd-highest cause of pharma thefts
Over one-third of the prescription drugs stolen from Maine pharmacies in the past four years were taken by employees, according to an analysis by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. While employees are responsible for 23% of the total pharmaceutical thefts, they account for 37% of the volume of drugs stolen.
The analysis said pharmaceutical employees in Maine steal less often than the national average, but experts in the state say that employee thefts more often go unreported. The top cause of pharmaceutical thefts in Maine is armed robbery, which accounts for 68% of the thefts and 43% of the dosage units stolen.
Industry experts told the center that most employees who steal drugs are fueling an addiction, most often to hydrocodone and Oxycontin.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Miller, an adviser to the Pharmacy Board and who formerly ran the Maine attorney general’s health crimes unit, told the center that he believes much of the employee theft does not get caught.
Pharmacy Board Chairman Joseph Bruno told the center part of the problem in catching employee thieves is that the state cannot afford to hire pharmacists as investigators. As a result, state investigators don’t have the same level of industry knowledge and experience a pharmacist would.
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