CVS Pharmacy announced on Monday that it has equipped all 318 CVS Pharmacy locations in Michigan with time-delay safes for controlled substances.
The delay function on the safes aims to prevent robberies by deterring and delaying thieves. The safes electronically delay the time it takes for employees to be able to open the safes, and it is not possible to override the delay function.
“We have seen that time-delay safes, combined with other security policies and procedures in place at our stores, can greatly reduce these incidents and are pleased to roll out this enhanced security measure,” said Betsy Ferguson, senior vice president and deputy counsel for CVS Health, according to a press release. “These safes will help ensure that our pharmacies remain a safe environment for our patients and colleagues.”
CVS pharmacies located in Target stores are equipped with the new technology as well, and all CVS Pharmacy locations with the technology will display signs indicating that the technology is in use at that location to prevent robberies of controlled substance narcotic medications, including opioids like hydrocodone and oxycodone.
“The opioid epidemic has hit Michigan especially hard, as it has so many other states, and our communities are working to fight this growing problem each and every day,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “An important way to do so is to ensure that medications are kept out of the wrong hands and these safes will help do just that.”
CVS Pharmacy noted a 70 percent decline in pharmacy robberies in pharmacy locations that rolled out the technology in 2015 in Indianapolis, the first city where the time-delay safes were implemented.
The time-delay safes are one of many measures CVS Pharmacy has taken to decrease prescription drug misuse in Michigan. The company’s Pharmacists Teach program engages in community education surrounding the dangers of prescription drug abuse. The company has also installed safe medication disposal units in 16 CVS Pharmacy stores around Michigan, as well as donated 957 units to law enforcement agencies.
CVS Pharmacy also supports increasing access to naloxone — or Narcan — a potentially lifesaving opioid overdose-reversal drug. Patients can access the medication without a prescription in Michigan.
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