ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Michigan officials are hopeful that new technology being added to CVS pharmacies across the state will help make a difference in the opioid crisis.
“Decreasing opioid prescription related deaths in our state takes an all-hands-on-deck approach, which is why it’s so important that pharmacies like CVS are stepping up and stepping in to help to combat this issue and showing true corporate, social responsibility,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, speaking Monday at a CVS store in Royal Oak.
CVS is adding time-delayed safes to all of its 318 Michigan locations, including to the pharmacies it operates in Target stores. Michigan is one of the first seven states to see the security upgrade from CVS.
“I have many stories of pharmacists who have been terrorized, with people coming in with guns, jumping the counter, holding the gun to their head and telling them to open the safe so they could steal the drugs,” said Betsy Ferguson, senior vice president and deputy counsel for CVS Health. “We consider pharmacy robberies to be one of the bigger safety issues to our pharmacists.”
The time-delayed safes will store all Schedule 2 drugs that have a high potential for addiction like oxycodone and hydrocodone, Ferguson said. Pharmacists are able to unlock them after a customer drops their prescription off -- but the safe doesn’t open immediately after the pharmacist unlocks it. Instead, it opens after a wait period that constantly varies and is confidential, Ferguson said.
“Though I’m very privileged to represent one of the safest communities in Michigan ... we’ve seen some truly devastating stories come out of our communities from people you’d least expect it to be addicted to opioids and to take drastic measures," said state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak. “Technology like this is small but a very important step in the right direction to deterring crime and making sure that we don’t see more of these illicit medications … make it to our streets.”
CVS tested the safes in stores in the Indianapolis area in 2015, after pharmacies there were targeted by armed gangs. Ferguson said the time-delayed safes reduced thefts by 70 percent.
“It’s not safe to be a pharmacist -- we have armed robberies in stores which is why we’re rolling this technology out to make both our colleagues as well as the customers who are with us safer,” Ferguson said.
Nessel said the opioid crisis is a serious issue for her office, as she’s actively seeking legal expertise to pursue claims against manufacturers, distributors and other responsible parties related to opioids.
“This has been such an expensive problem for our state,” Nessel said.
Opioid and heroin cause more deaths among Michigan residents than guns or traffic crashes, according to state data.
