Oxycontin News Blog

The Kroger Co. said Friday it will pay $7 million to settle claims that inadequate security and inventory procedures allowed some employees to steal prescription drugs, including narcotics, from its King Soopers grocery store pharmacies in Colorado.

Cincinnati-based Kroger, one of the nation's largest grocery chains, also will implement programs at its pharmacies nationwide to ensure employees are trained on compliance with federal drug control laws.

"This came as a surprise to us. We deeply regret it. It's a serious fine for a serious problem and we accept that responsibility 100 percent," King Soopers spokesman Trail Daugherty said.

The federal investigation began after someone was arrested for illegal possession of prescription drugs that were traced to a King Soopers pharmacy, U.S. Attorney Bill Leone said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration then audited seven King Soopers pharmacies in April, turning up record-keeping and security problems. The stores were primarily in metropolitan Denver. One store was in northern Colorado and a second in southern Colorado, but Daugherty would not disclose the exact locations.

The audits concluded there were widespread weaknesses in theft-prevention and inventory control systems used at pharmacies operated by King Soopers and City Market, also owned by Kroger, but no evidence of violations at Kroger stores outside Colorado, Leone said.

Among the missing drugs were narcotics such as OxyContin and morphine derivatives, medications that are in demand on the street, Leone and Daugherty said. Based on a best estimate calculation, as much as $1 million in street value of prescription drugs was unaccounted for, Leone said.

Fewer than 15 King Soopers employees were involved in varying degrees, from not complying with federal drug control laws to theft and diversion of drugs, Daugherty said. Discipline ranged from write-ups in personnel records to termination and criminal prosecution.

Leone said Kroger did not admit wrongdoing as part of the legal settlement. "Our primary concern here is to prevent the diversion and loss of prescription drugs," he said.

Daugherty said the audits did not turn up wrongdoing with prescription drugs dispensed at the pharmacies. "Throughout all the audits there was never once an issue that dealt with the quality of patient care, prescription accuracy or patient safety," he said.

Leone said the two federal offices will continue working with pharmacies on drug control regulations. "I suspect that similar problems and similar issues exist in other chains as well," he said.

Kroger has about 2,500 supermarkets and department stores in 32 states.

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