An Indianapolis, Ind.-based hospital has been fined $2 million by federal authorities for failing to accurately track stolen painkillers. Over the past two years, a pharmacy employee with St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital allegedly stole 623,843 tablets of hydrocodone, turning them over to her adult son for street sale. Despite the high volume of drugs stolen--and tough laws mandating tight controls on this class of drugs--St. Vincent's wasn't aware the drugs were missing. The employee was caught when a local drug task force tracked the flow of drugs from the son to the hospital's outpatient clinic for low-income and uninsured patients, where his mother worked. The hospital has apologized for the weaknesses in its system which allowed the drugs to go missing unnoticed.
To learn more about the fine:
- read this piece
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