Local pharmacy broken into for second time
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – An overnight break in at a local pharmacy leaves damage to the inventory and to the store’s bottom line.
Currie’s Family Care Pharmacy in Aberdeen was broken into early Wednesday morning.
Owner Currie Bounds said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to them.
“It’s a nuisance. It’s a problem. It costs us money. And it costs us money, at this point in the pharmacy world, that we can’t afford,” said Currie Bounds, owner of the pharmacy.
The burglary happened around 12:30 a.m.
Surveillance video shows two suspects who kick their way through a door.
Aberdeen police said several drugs were taken.
The thieves were only in the store 49 seconds.
A number of pill bottles were left on the floor. Bounds said other pharmacies have also had products stolen.
He said the process to recovery can be time-consuming.
“We’re being hit with burglaries. We’re having to close down for that and for all the labor-intensive stuff that have to done to satisfy the state board, the DEA and all the authorities,” said Bounds.
However, Bounds said this break-in is just a tiny part of an even bigger problem at bay for independent pharmacies across the nation.
Simply filling a prescription can make them break the bank.
“It’s got to the point where most of the time or many of times, by the time overhead is factored into the prescription, we’re losing money. It’s not uncommon for us to fill a prescription and actually lose 50 or 60 dollars on it,” said Bounds.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers control how much pharmacies are reimbursed for filling prescriptions and the cost of patient drug prices.
PBMs play the middleman between drug manufacturers, insurance companies, and pharmacies.
With the amount of money lost overtime, Bounds said it’s been hard to keep up and that something has to be done on a higher level.
“It’s got to be fixed with the legislative issue, it’s got the take the legislator to jump in there and combat these PBMs, come against them and start fighting as independent pharmacies or we’re just going to continue to close,” said Bounds.
Currie’s reopened Wednesday afternoon.
Aberdeen Police said the suspects have not yet been identified.
No narcotics were taken.
This case is still under investigation.
If you have any information about the burglary, call APD or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers 1-800-530-7151.
