Company Pays Penalty For Thousands Of Pills Missing From Two Tulsa Pharmacies

By Dan Bewley and NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Hundreds of thousands of prescription drugs have been stolen. The company that runs two Tulsa pharmacies is paying a million dollars to the government because their employees stole the drugs.

The two pharmacies are inside Hillcrest Medical Center and the OSU Medical Center. Neither hospital was involved and the pharmacies are owned and managed by Cardinal Health Pharmacy Services based near Columbus, Ohio.

Both pharmacies violated several provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, according to the Attorney General. 

The investigation started when Cardinal reported missing large amounts of potentially dangerous and addictive drugs.

The Hillcrest pharmacy lost 399,500 dosage units of hydrocodone and 234,000 dosage units of alprazolam within a two-year period from October, 2005 to June, 2007, an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration revealed. Sixty-four controlled substances invoices are also missing.

The Oklahoma State Medical Center Pharmacy cannot account for 6,800 dosage units of hydrocodone, 300 dosage units of phentermine and 23,700 dosage units of alprazolam and 47 controlled substances invoices over a period of about a year - from April, 2007 to July, 2008.

Hydrocodone is a narcotic pain medication. Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety medication (brand name Xanax), and phentermine is an appetite suppressant and amphetamine.

All of this happened between October 2005 and July 2008.

Cardinal eventually fired two employees. Only one, however, was charged in court. 

The U.S. Attorney said Sandra Decker was in charge of handling invoices and buying medication at the Hillcrest Pharmacy. Investigators said she would create false invoices and use fake names to order drugs for herself. Once she got the drugs she would destroy the invoices. Decker pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing hydrocodone illegally.

The U.S. Attorney's office could not say why no one was charged in connection with the case at the OSU Medical Center Pharmacy. 

Cardinal agreed to pay a $1 million penalty and a spokesman says the company is taking a closer look at its policies.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Woodward could not talk on camera but released a statement:

"Today's settlement will help to curb illegal access to these potentially dangerous drugs that are often abused. It demonstrates the important responsibilities that all pharmacies have to prevent controlled drugs from being diverted from their intended use."

Sandra Decker is currently serving time in a federal treatment center in Texas. She's scheduled to get out in September 2011. She was also ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution.