$75 million in drugs stolen from Eli Lilly DC
Thieves stole $75 million worth of prescription drugs from an Eli Lilly and Co. warehouse on March 14, raising concerns adulterated or spoiled medicine could be resold to retailers or institutions, company officials said.
The pharmaceutical giant announced the brazen heist on its Web site on March 17 and is asking the public's help in finding the stolen products, which include the antidepressants Prozac and Cymbalta, antipsychotic Zyprexa, a blood thinner and cancer treatments.
Thieves scaled the walls of Eli Lilly's distribution center in Enfield, Conn., cut a hole in the roof, repelled to the floor, disabled the alarm system and loaded several dozen crates full of drugs into a waiting truck, said Ed Sagebiel, director of corporate communications.
The $75 million loss represents the wholesale price of the drugs.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly cautioned consumers to purchase products only from well-established and reputable retailers and recommended they inspect the product and label for signs of tampering before opening. Pharmacists and health care professionals were instructed not to use the product or container if it appears to have been disturbed in any way.
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Consumers also are at risk because products may not be stored or handled properly by criminals. Last year a shipment of insulin stolen in North Carolina turned up at a medical center in Houston where some patients could not control their blood sugar because the insulin lost its potency due to poor handling, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
'The U.S. pharmaceutical distribution system is tightly controlled and monitored, making it extremely difficult for stolen product to make it to patients through legitimate channels. However, we will continue to work closely with local and federal law enforcement authorities, the FDA, and our distribution partners to maintain the integrity of our drug supply chain,' said Fionnuala M. Walsh, Eli Lilly's senior vice president of global quality, in a statement.
The company stopped distributing the product with the affected lot numbers the day after the break in.
FDA officials say it is important to get the word out quickly about a drug theft to make the products too hot to sell.
Several recent cases announced by victimized companies and the government underscore the growing trend of cargo theft around the nation, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. Since April 2009, the agency has issued 19 public alerts and 13 special notices to pharmacies and wholesaler organizations about cargo and warehouse thefts of medical products and infant formula. Crimes committed so far this year include:
' Cases of Mead Johnson Nutrition infant formula stolen from a truck stop in Richwood, Ky., on March 13.
' Over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements taken March 3 in Dallas from a tractor-trailer headed to H-E-B.
' A delivery truck containing multiple Sanofi-Aventis products, including Ambien, was hijacked Jan. 29 by armed men in the Bayamon district of Puerto Rico. The truck was later recovered with only a small amount of product still intact.
' A truck carrying GlaxoSmithKline products from a distributor was hijacked by two armed men who overpowered a driver and stole a portion of the load the same day, also in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
' Cases of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care contact lenses were stolen from a secure freight consolidation facility in Elizabeth, N.J., in mid-January.
' Sirius Laboratories Inc. reported a tractor-trailer containing topical drugs was stolen in Monroe, Ohio, in early February.
Anyone with information about the stolen Eli Lilly products is asked to contact the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations by calling (800) 551-3989 or visiting the OCI website, www.fda.gov/OCI ' Eric Kulisch