75 Million in Prescription pills stolen from CT warehouse

[PUMPKIN ESCOBAR]

Say WHAT?!

 

http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/22869507/detail.html

 

The $75 million heist at a pharmaceutical warehouse in Connecticut this week was just the most audacious example of a growing phenomenon: Thieves are stealing large quantities of prescription drugs for resale on the black market.

 

Pharmaceutical heists in the U.S. have quadrupled since 2006, a coalition of industry and law enforcement estimates. And experts say the reasons include spotty security and high drug prices that can make such thefts extremely lucrative.

 

While some stolen pills wind up overseas, others show up on pharmacy shelves in the U.S. with fake labels and lot numbers.

 

The theft from an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse early Sunday is the largest of its kind on record and attests to the growing sophistication of those who pull off such crimes.

 

Authorities say the thieves cut a hole in the roof, lowered themselves into the building on ropes, disabled the alarm system and stole enough drugs to fill a tractor-trailer. The stolen pharmaceuticals included best-selling antidepressants Prozac and Cymbalta.

 

"The people that target the pharmaceutical industry are an organized criminal element," said Charles Forsaith, director of supply chain security for drugmaker Purdue Pharma. "This isn't a couple of guys walking by a warehouse and saying, 'I'm going to hit that place.'"

 

Forsaith heads a coalition of drug companies, distributors and law enforcement officials who have been working to prevent such thefts since 2006.

 

In the past four years, reported thefts of prescription drug shipments have quadrupled from 11 to 46, according to FreightWatch International, a security firm. Last year, roughly $184 million in pharmaceuticals were stolen in the U.S., up from $96.6 million the year before. Most of the heists involve cargo stolen from trucks or cargo containers, though company warehouses have also been hit.

 

Widely abused drugs like morphine and codeine are often peddled on the street, but federal officials say drugs like those stolen from Lilly are often sold back to medical suppliers.

 

Major drugstore chains say they purchase pharmaceuticals only from manufacturers or wholesalers that certify the source of their product.

 

But with layers of drug wholesalers, distributors and online pharmacy businesses across the U.S., experts say stolen prescription drugs can easily be resold.

 

"Some of these thieves completely redo labels, and they pass muster if no one's looking too closely," said Food and Drug Administration spokesman Tom Gasparoli.

 

The danger to the public comes if the thieves decide to hold onto the product until it expires and becomes unsafe.

 

"If they flood the market with this stuff now they're going to get caught. If they hold on to them too long, you're going to have shelf-life issues," said Steve Brozak, president of WBB Securities, an investment firm focused on the drug industry.

 

A year ago, a refrigerated truck of insulin worth more than $10.9 million was stolen from Novo Nordisk in North Carolina. Months later the FDA reported several cases of diabetics showing up in emergency rooms with unsafe blood sugar levels; the cases were traced to the stolen insulin, which was not properly refrigerated.

 

Security experts say the incentives behind pharmaceutical theft are largely confined to the U.S. and unlikely to change anytime soon.

 

"Whenever you have a health care system where drugs are very expensive and there's a fragmented supply chain, you're going to have a means to profit from stolen drugs," said Ron Greene, a spokesman for FreightWatch.

 

According to Greene, pharmaceutical theft is virtually nonexistent in Europe, where government controls keep drug prices low and most people have health care coverage.

 

Drugmakers are taking steps to protect their products. FreightWatch advises companies to hire security personnel to protect major shipments. In other cases they can install electronic tracking systems to monitor where their trucks are at all times.

 

The FDA has stepped up its own efforts, issuing alerts to the public, working with manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies and law enforcement, and publishing lot numbers of stolen drugs on a Web site.

 

"FDA stresses that it is everyone's responsibility in the supply chain to look closely, to care about the quality of the products they sell," Gasparoli said. "If there is not a solid market for these stolen goods, the thieves will do something else."

[pimps up hos down]

Thats some OG shit though for real

[earl broclo ESQ]

I'm never in the right place at the right time.

[IOU]

I'm about to come up proper.

[MedicineCabinet]

well done

[shai]

What's wrong with LOWERING THE FUCKING COST OF HEALTH CARE/DRUGS IN THE US SO THIS SHIT DOESN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN AT ALL?

[mackfatsoe]

no narcotics, desafortunadamente

[Spitfire15]

How else are the drug companies supposed to make outrageous and unheard of amounts of money if they dont charge us out the ass?

[pertplus1]

CHA-CHING!

[tango 24]

 

dollar dollar pills y'all

[shai]

Thats just crazy talk dude, dont talk shit about capitalism!

 

Seriously, if the same EXACT pills cost way less in canada, why are they so expensive here.

 

I bet this shit pops up on that show masterminds, as soon as they catch dudes who did it

 

Wait, what? Why are they expensive in the States? Do some fucking reading, for crying out loud.

 

At first glance (I could be wrong) none of these are drugs you can get high on per se...they're pills certain folks use (notice I don't say NEED, it's a loaded term) to lead "normal lives."

 

Trust me, I am very sketchy on modern day capitalism vis a vis crime/illicit pharmaceuticals, having been involved in the business on a couple different levels over the years. In fact, you could say that I'm dealing with the effects of that right now, which is why this a sore subject for me.

[famecrazy]

[nsmbfan]

^^ xanax

[Veritably Clean]

they didn't steal any fun pills though

[volcom8811]

[IrishCarBombs]

who wants to help me break in to a vet office to steal some k :scrambled:

[i'moffthywallz]

 

Alprazolam has a relatively high potential for recreational use[93] and is the most commonly misused benzodiazepine.[5] Injection of alprazolam, though extremely rare, is considered especially dangerous by medical professionals[94] because, when crushed in water it will not fully dissolve (40 µg/ml of H2O at pH 7, and 12 mg/mL at pH 1.2[95]), potentially causing severe damage to arteries if not filtered properly. While it is somewhat soluble in alcohol, the combination of the two, particularly when injected, has the potential to cause a serious, and potentially fatal, overdose. Alprazolam may also be insufflated.[96] Snorting alprazolam is highly inefficient, however, as it is insoluble in water, and thus does not readily cross the nasal membranes, resulting in reduced bioavailability. However, long-term use of benzodiazepines does not usually result in notable dose escalation, and most prescribed alprazolam users do not use their medication recreationally.[97]

 

Alprazolam is sometimes used with other recreational drugs to relieve the panic or distress of dysphoric reactions to psychedelics such as LSD, and also to promote sleep in the "come-down" period following use of recreational drugs with stimulant or insomniac properties (such as LSD, cocaine, amphetamine and other related amphetamines, DXM, and MDMA). It is also often used in conjunction with marijuana or heroin to potentiate the relaxing effect.[98][99][100][101][102]

 

A large-scale nationwide USA government study conducted by SAMHSA found that, in the USA, benzodiazepines are, recreationally, the most frequently-used pharmaceutical, with 35% of drug-related visits to the Emergency Department involving benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are more commonly used recreationally than opioid pharmaceuticals due to their widespread availability, which accounted for 32% of visits to the emergency department. No other pharmaceutical is more commonly used recreationally than benzodiazepines; however, benzodiazepines remain in Schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act, whereas opioids are much more strictly scheduled due to their higher abuse potential. Men use benzodiazepines recreationally as commonly as women. The report found that alprazolam is the most common benzodiazepine for recreational use followed by clonazepam, lorazepam, and diazepam.[9]:cool:

 

Overdoses of alprazolam can be mild to severe depending on how much of the drug is taken and if any other depressants have been taken. Alprazolam is significantly more toxic in overdose having higher rates of fatalities compared to other benzodiazepines. A study in New Zealand found that alprazolam is almost 8 times more likely to result in death in overdose than other sedative hypnotics as a group, with higher rates of intensive-care unit admissions and mechanical ventilation. Combined overdose with tricyclic antidepressants, alcohol, or opiates, or overdoses of alprazolam in the elderly, significantly increases the likelihood for severe toxicity and possible fatality.[109] Alprazolam (Xanax) overdose reflect the central nervous system depression of the brain and may include one or more of the following symptoms:[35]

[50million]

[50million]

they weren't specific in the article. all they said were 'some of the drugs included prozac....' so i'm sure they got some pretty good shit. they probably didnt go into specifics so more people wouldnt think about doing something like this.

 

 

 

 

where da percocet at?

[shai]

they weren't specific in the article. all they said were 'some of the drugs included prozac....' so i'm sure they got some pretty good shit. they probably didnt go into specifics so more people wouldnt think about doing something like this.

 

People do jobs like this all the time but on a much smaller scale.

 

Also, I know folks who have "discovered" pharmacies that went out of business...the owners took the cash and left everything else behind. Talk about a blessing and a curse....

[Ferris Bueller]

Did GucciCondom get his big break?

[IrishCarBombs]

this just in gucci condom buys the ny yankees

[Ferris Bueller]

off of craigslist

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

[john_gacy]

Fuck yes CT!!

[IOU]

Fuck nickel and dime stick up kids, this is the way to go.

[Manute Bol]

MY 3000TH POST MOTHERFUCKERS.

:cool:

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed it.

[BLU]

Unstoppable

[Mr.L]

YES.

[SystemFailure]

Coming off phat.

 

And I question some of you and your loyalty to this great nation. Prices have been raised rightfully and justly because of these anarchists. Health care reform will not help this. What I'm getting at is...

 

 

 

WE NEED CHANGE, MORE WHITE CHRISTIANS