What Happened
The Indiana Board of Pharmacy narrowly approved a disciplinary settlement with a Muncie hospital whose pharmacy policies failed to detect a pharmacy manager's theft of Schedule II narcotics over nearly four years.
Investigators said the losses included more than 32,000 milliliters of hydromorphone, more than 3,300 milliliters of methadone solution, more than 4,000 methadone tablets and smaller amounts of morphine, with a hospital-estimated loss above $121,000 The settlement keeps the hospital's pharmacy license and controlled substance registration on probation for at least three years and imposes the maximum $44,000 civil fine along with outside audits, inspections and diversion-prevention training.
What the Record Shows
The Indiana Board of Pharmacy voted 3-2 to accept a revised settlement placing the hospital's pharmacy license and controlled substance registration on indefinite probation for at least three years, imposing the maximum $44,000 civil fine plus a $5 statutory fee, and requiring quarterly independent audits, two unannounced compliance inspections, a drug diversion certificate program for pharmacy leadership and additional diversion-prevention continuing education.
Why It Matters for Diversion Programs
This entry comes from a news source rather than a federal enforcement release, and it is recorded as reported: The attorney general's administrative complaint alleged the hospital failed over a 44-month period to maintain effective controls against theft and diversion of controlled substances, allowing a pharmacy manager to repeatedly remove Schedule II narcotics through normally-unused transaction types while disguising the withdrawals as legitimate transfers to two outpatient clinics. Investigators said the reported losses included more than 32,000 milliliters of hydromorphone, more than 3,300 milliliters of methadone solution, more than 4,000 methadone tablets and smaller amounts of morphine, with the hospital estimating its loss at more than $121,000.. Board and news records are a lagging indicator - by the time a licensing authority or a reporter learns of a diversion, the diversion was normally detected internally first, which makes each entry a signal that inventory reconciliation, waste observation or dispensing oversight failed earlier.