SAFE DOSES bill beefs up sentences for organized drug-store theft

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The U.S. Senate this week passed a bill aimed at battling organized retail crime and bolstering consumer safety at drug stores, a move welcomed by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The House of Representatives passed the Strengthening and Focusing Enforcement to Deter Organized Stealing and Enhance Safety Act of 2012, also known as the SAFE DOSES Act, in late June.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., who introduced the bill in the House, said it further protects patients from stolen and mishandled products, including prescription drugs, devices and infant formula, that find their way back to our consumers. “Medical theft is a growing form of organized crime that impacts thousands of patients in the U.S. who rely on life-saving drugs every day,” he wrote in a column on the WaukeshaPatch website. “These stolen drugs are sold through a network of middlemen to our stores and patients have no way of knowing if the drugs were tampered with or tainted.”

The act increases sentences for those who steal medical products and the middlemen who knowingly obtain stolen medical products for resale into the supply chain.

The NACDS considers itself a partner in helping law enforcement curb criminal activities that can compromise consumer safety, NACDS president and chief executive officer ,   said in a prepared statement. He added that consumers are put at risk when these stolen products are stored under unsafe conditions or are tampered with and then sold on the black market, including by illegal Internet drug sellers.

The NACDS is urging President Obama to “expedite signing this important bill into law," Anderson said.