WOONSOCKET, R.I., Oct. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Pharmacy, the
retail division of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), announced today that it
has completed the rollout of time delay safes in all of its 228 CVS
Pharmacy locations in Maryland.
The safes will help prevent pharmacy robberies and combat the
ongoing opioid epidemic by helping to prevent diversion of
controlled substance narcotic medications by keeping them out of
the hands of unauthorized individuals. In addition, the safes will
help CVS Pharmacy ensure the safety and well-being of its customers
and employees.
Controlled substance narcotic medications that are sought after
by robbers, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, are now stored in
time delay safes in every CVS Pharmacy in the state of Maryland. Time delay safes help deter pharmacy
robberies by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy
employees to be able to open the safe. CVS Pharmacy first
implemented time delay safes in Indianapolis, a city experiencing a high
volume of pharmacy robberies, in 2015. The company saw a 70 percent
decline in pharmacy robberies among the Indianapolis stores where the time delay safes
had been installed.
"Pharmacy robberies are a challenging issue for every pharmacy
and we are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of
pharmacy robbery incidents in our Maryland stores," said Roger Francis, Division Vice President of CVS
Pharmacy in Maryland. "In other
parts of the country we have seen that time delay safes, combined
with the other security policies and procedures in place at our
stores, can greatly reduce these incidents. We are pleased to roll
out time delay safes here in Maryland to help ensure that our pharmacies
remain a safe environment for our patients and
colleagues."
The time delay function cannot be overridden and is designed to
serve as a deterrent to would-be pharmacy robbers whose goal is to
enter and exit their robbery targets as quickly as possible. All
CVS Pharmacy locations with time delay safes display highly-visible
signage to inform the public that time delay safes are in use to
prevent on-demand access to controlled substance narcotics.
The implementation of time delay safes across all CVS Pharmacy
locations in Maryland is the
latest in a series of measures put in place by CVS Health to help
combat prescription drug abuse in the state. CVS Health's
commitment to preventing and addressing prescription drug abuse
extends to community education, efforts to encourage safe disposal
of unused medication and increasing access to the opioid
overdose-reversal drug naloxone. The company's Pharmacists
Teach program brings CVS Pharmacists to schools across the country
to talk to students and parents about the dangers of prescription
drug abuse. More than 405,000 students across the country,
including more than 5,600 in Maryland, have participated in the
program.
CVS Health has also completed installation of 19 safe medication
disposal units in CVS Pharmacy stores in Maryland, in addition to the three units it
has donated to Maryland law
enforcement agencies. Nationwide, 750 safe medication disposal
units have been installed in CVS Pharmacy locations, adding to the
more than 900 units the company has donated to law enforcement
agencies. In total, the company has facilitated more than 1,650
units nationwide, which have collected more than 480,000 pounds, or
2017 metric tons of unwanted medication, including more than 6,000
pounds, or nearly three metric tons in Maryland alone. Increasing community access to
safe medication disposal helps rid homes of unused medications that
could otherwise be diverted, abused or contaminate the water supply
if disposed of improperly.
Additionally, CVS Health has worked with 48 states – including
Maryland – to increase access to
the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone, also known as Narcan.
Patients can obtain this life-saving medication, which is a safe
and effective antidote to opioid overdoses, without an individual
prescription in these states.
About CVS Pharmacy
CVS Pharmacy, the retail division
of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), is America's leading retail pharmacy
with over 9,800 locations. It is the first national pharmacy to end
the sale of tobacco and the first pharmacy in the nation to receive
the Community Pharmacy accreditation from URAC, the leading health
care accreditation organization that establishes quality standards
for the health care industry. CVS Pharmacy is reinventing pharmacy
to help people on their path to better health by providing the most
accessible and personalized expertise, both in its stores and
online at CVS.com. General information about CVS Pharmacy is
available at http://www.cvshealth.com.
Media Contact:
Amy
Lanctot
(401) 770-2931
Amy.Lanctot@CVSHealth.com
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SOURCE CVS Pharmacy