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<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Tossed prescription leads to robbery</span></font></i></b></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>WTHR-TV (IN) <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indiana</st1:place></st1:State><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By Bob Segall<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>08/03/2006 Forwarded By Capt.
Richard Conklin RxPatrol<a
href="http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=5237714&ClientType=Printable"
title="http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=5237714&ClientType=Printable"></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The personal information found on prescription pill bottles is all
someone needs to commit a crime. 13 Investigates found hundreds of labels
tossed out by local pharmacies in wide open dumpsters. It's a violation of
state and federal law and it could put you and your family at risk. An <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indiana</st1:place></st1:State> woman says this
problem is not new, and the nation's largest pharmacy chain should have fixed
it years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Becky Grounds still remembers the phone call she got from detectives.
They told Grounds her mother had been robbed. "They took it all and it was
a full prescription," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The thieves stole a prescription for Oxycontin a powerful drug with a
very high street value. Doctors prescribed it for Margie Kerr because of
chronic arthritis and back problems. "She needed it for the pain,"
said Grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>That didn't matter to the thief who stole medication from a 76-year-old
woman. The question is why someone targeted Margie? Detectives say the answer
lies in the dumpster behind her drug store.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>"It wasn't protected at all. Somebody was going through the
pharmacy trash dumpster and found information with a name and address and type
of medication she was receiving," said Sergeant Brad Swain, Monroe County
Sheriff's Department.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The thief then showed up on Margie's front porch. He said he worked for
the pharmacy and needed to take back her prescription to fix a problem.
"She said fine and just handed it to him. She was too naļve. She just felt
he was being honest," said Grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Grounds says the crime changed her parents' life. "They were just
really afraid after that for a long time. If he knew that information and he
knew they were elderly, he could come back and that's one of the reasons she
decided never to take that medication again," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>That crime happened five years ago. At the time CVS told investigators
and Margie's family it would take care of the problem: that prescription labels
with customer information would not be put in the trash.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>"They promised me we will now be shredding every piece," said
Grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Five years later, that is not happening at many pharmacies around
central <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indiana</st1:place></st1:State>.
We checked dumpsters at CVS stores and other pharmacies. Where we took trash,
we found more than half the dumpsters contained customers' personal
information. In fact, we even found dozens of prescription labels for
oxycodone, the same drug that prompted a total stranger to rob Margie Kerr at
her front door.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>"I would think in this day and age that they would be more
careful. There is a potential of this information getting out and of more
violent crime to patients," said Sgt. Swain.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Becky Grounds says the problem has gone on long enough. She says it's
time for drug stores to learn from their past mistakes and this time, to do
something about it. "You are at their mercy until they change their
programs and their way of disposing of information that shouldn't be out there
in the public."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>While pharmacies are trying to address this issue, you should be
protecting your prescription privacy, too. Pharmacists say when you get a new
prescription, don't throw away the packaging as you leave the drug store
because often it contains your personal information. Make sure you take the
label off your pill bottles before you thrown them away at home. Also, do not
trust strangers with your medication.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>It seems like that robber stole more than pills. He also took away a
senior citizens' peace of mind. Margie is now in her eighties. She's in a <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bloomington</st1:place></st1:City> nursing home
and her daughter says she's never gotten over the feeling of being violated in
her own home. Her family hopes sharing her story will help the rest of us. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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