Finland routs US 5-0 for bronze in Olympic hockey

Christmas dinner dance Dec. 13

First Posted: 10/2/2014 <hardreturn>The quantity of pills Sheree Senausky allegedly stole from the Back Mountain pharmacy where she worked raises questions about how the theft went undetected. <hardreturn>Bloomsburg resident Paul Dougal, one of 13 people charged in a drug ring Wednesday, told investigators he has been directly or indirectly purchasing 400 Vicodin pills from Senausky per week for about five years. <hardreturn>Senausky, 29, a pharmacy technician at Cook's Pharmacy in Shavertown, was charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance, four counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two counts of corrupt organizations and one count of illegal use of a communication facility. <hardreturn>She admitted to investigators in writing that she stole the prescription pain killer Vicodin, also known as hydrocodone, and other controlled substances on a weekly basis from her employer. <hardreturn>In a search of the home she owns on Staub Road in the Trucksville section of Kingston Township, investigators found Vicodin tablets and other assorted prescription narcotics, firearms and money, including $250 from an undercover drug purchase of pills from her on July 16. <hardreturn>Theft from pharmacies may not be detected by the government because government agencies aren't required to regularly check inventories and match them up to prescriptions, officials say. <hardreturn>DEA procedures <hardreturn>Barbara Carreno, spokeswoman at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said the federal government doesn't have the resources to conduct regular or even random drug inventory inspections of all retail pharmacies to determine if the number of pills ordered match up to filled prescriptions. <hardreturn>&#8220;There are just too many of them, but if we have reason to think there's a problem, we can require them to show us their records,&#8221; Carreno said. <hardreturn>There are 69,900 retail pharmacies in the country &#8212; 3,227 in Pennsylvania &#8212; and the DEA has about 600 &#8220;diversion&#8221; investigators who examine reports of suspected missing drugs nationwide, Carreno said. <hardreturn>These investigators also must monitor hospitals, clinics and doctors who dispense medication and conduct cyclical inspections of narcotic treatment programs, she said. <hardreturn>The DEA requires retail pharmacies to conduct inventories every two years, physically counting all controlled substances in their possession, according to information on the agency's website. <hardreturn>Pharmacies also must report to the DEA in writing within one business day any discovery of a theft or significant loss of a controlled substance, Carreno said. <hardreturn>Pennsylvania licenses pharmacies and pharmacists and has authority to conduct investigations and revoke licenses, said Department of State press secretary Ron Ruman. <hardreturn>Ruman said he could not find any state laws requiring regular state inspections of pharmacy inventories. <hardreturn>Pat Epple, CEO of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, said the state has been attempting to inspect every pharmacy in the state every two or three years and said both the state and DEA act quickly if they receive complaints of a potential problem. <hardreturn>&#8220;I find it a little alarming the pharmacy didn't notice that,&#8221; Epple said, referring to the volume of pills involved in the charges against Senausky. <hardreturn>Cook's Pharmacy employees declined comment, and the business owner did not return a message seeking comment. <hardreturn>Registration sought <hardreturn>The association, a nonprofit professional society of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and student pharmacists, has been advocating legislation requiring pharmacy technicians to be registered in Pennsylvania, which is among the few states that don't have such a requirement, Epple said. <hardreturn>Registration would provide a forum for pharmacies to report and track potential problems with pharmacy technicians and force the technicians to undergo background checks, Epple said. <hardreturn>Without registration, pharmacy technicians who may be terminated on suspicion of drug theft can more easily obtain employment at other pharmacies, she said. <hardreturn>The association does not support some prior legislation proposals that require specific training requirements for technicians because a sudden loss of technicians who don't meet those requirements would &#8220;cripple&#8221; pharmacies, she said. <hardreturn>A graduate of Dallas High School and Luzerne County Community College, Senausky worked as a pharmacy technician at Cook's for a decade, according to the business website. <hardreturn>According to state law, pharmacy technicians can handle the following tasks, but only under the &#8220;direct, immediate, personal supervision&#8221; of a pharmacist: <hardreturn>&#8226; Carry containers of drugs in and around the pharmacy. <hardreturn>&#8226; Count pills, tablets and capsules and put them in a container. <hardreturn>&#8226; Type and print labels. <hardreturn>&#8226; Maintain records related to the pharmacy practice. <hardreturn>&#8226; Help prepare some products and medications that must be inspected and initialed by the supervising pharmacist. <hardreturn>&#8226; Enter prescription, drug order or patient information in a patient profile. <hardreturn>Pharmacy technicians can't accept or transcribe oral orders or telephone prescriptions, enter or be in a pharmacy if a pharmacist is not on duty or perform any work that involves discretion or independent professional judgment, the law says. <hardreturn>The pharmacist manager must create and maintain a written protocol for each pharmacy technician employed in the pharmacy, the law says. <hardreturn>Luzerne County native Michael Lacey, a certified Pennsylvania pharmacist who is now working in Texas, said the loss of 400 pills per week should have been noticed. <hardreturn>&#8220;As time went on, I would think someone would wonder why they had to order more pills again. I would think someone would have red-flagged it and wondered how they were going through so much,&#8221; said Lacey, who sold his pharmacy in Freeland in 2012. <hardreturn>Vicodin upgraded <hardreturn>Pharmacy tracking of Vicodin will intensify because the federal government has upgraded the drug from Class 3 to Class 2 effective Oct. 6 in light of increasing abuse and addiction, Lacey said. <hardreturn>Pharmacies are supposed to keep &#8220;perpetual&#8221; running inventories of all Class 2 drugs showing how many are in stock, he said. <hardreturn>For example, if the pharmacy has 100 pills of a Class 2 drug and dispenses 50 to a customer, the inventory should show there are 50 remaining pills. If a count shows there are 20, the pharmacy is supposed to figure out what happened to the other 30. If employees didn't forget to log a filled prescription, the count could signal theft, he said. <hardreturn>&#8220;The cool part of a perpetual inventory is it lets you know immediately that there's a potential problem,&#8221; said Lacey, noting that pharmacy technicians must be licensed in Texas.

Vicodin theft raises oversight questions