WINCHESTER — Compared to some opioid diversion attempts in Indiana, Wal-Mart pharmacy technician Diane B. Moreland's modus operandi was simple.
For example, a pharmacist in Greenfield substituted the pain reliever/fever reducer acetaminophen for the opioid pain medications hydrocodone and oxycodone in bottles sent to at least three nursing homes.
On Aug. 3, 2015, Moreland, 33, of Winchester, scanned in a hydrocodone prescription for a patient who was not in the store, set it to the side of a cash register, then took it to her car, according to Winchester police, who say the theft was caught on security camera.
Moreland was charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, for which she received a conditional deferment wherein the pending count may be dismissed, and the Indiana attorney general filed a complaint against her license. She failed to appear at a hearing before the Indiana Board of Pharmacy this summer.
The Indiana State Department of Health this week announced it has awarded nearly $150,000 worth of overdose reversal kits to local health departments in 20 Indiana counties, including Delaware, Henry, Madison and Randolph, to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses.
More than 3,400 kits containing naloxone hydrochloride, also known by the trade name Narcan, will be distributed among the 20 counties. Naloxone hydrochloride is a medication that is proven to be a safe and effective way to quickly reverse the life-threatening effects of opioid overdose.
“We have seen the toll that the national opioid epidemic has taken on individuals, their families and their communities,” state Health Commissioner Jerome Adams said in a news release. “These rescue kits will give local health departments the tools they need to protect lives in their communities and will give individuals struggling with substance use disorder the second chance they need to get on a path to recovery.”
In 2010, Indiana saw 54 deaths caused by heroin overdose. In 2014, there were 170 heroin-related deaths, 452 opioid deaths and 2,822 nonfatal drug poisoning-related emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses. Other opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and other prescription painkillers add to this number.