Narcotics stolen in break-in at Sixth Street Drugs

Aug. 18—TRAVERSE CITY — Munson Healthcare officials are cooperating with local law enforcement officers investigating a break-in at Sixth Street Drugs, a hospital-owned pharmacy where police say an undisclosed quantity of narcotics were stolen.

Traverse City Police Department Capt. James Bussell said a glass door was broken at the pharmacy during the burglary, but declined further comment citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

The break-in comes as Munson is in the midst of a $1.5 million settlement agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, following an investigation of the pharmacy by federal agents who, documents show, previously found numerous controlled substance-prescribing violations.

Munson Healthcare Chief Legal Officer Rachel Roe on Tuesday did not respond to a question regarding whether officials believed the break-in was related to the settlement agreement, which requires the hospital to remit two $750,000 payments, allow unannounced, warrantless inspections by DEA representatives, and bolster pharmacy security and record-keeping.

The settlement, signed May 26, does list DEA investigatory findings, yet was not considered an admission of liability by Sixth Street Drugs and Roe has said previously that pharmacists there filled prescriptions in good faith.

"We are fully compliant with all of the requirements imposed upon us to date under the MOA," Roe said Tuesday of the settlement's Memorandum of Agreement. "This (the break-in) is an unfortunate incident and we are actively cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate."

Mark A. Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, helped facilitate the settlement and a spokesperson, Kathy Schuette, confirmed Sixth Street Drugs made the initial $750,000 payment.

Records show the DEA in 2019 began investigating the pharmacy after purchasing and dispensing data, collected between 2016 and 2020, raised several red flags, including data showing the percentage of filled prescriptions categorized as controlled substances was about twice the national average.

Roe previously said Munson made a voluntary decision to suspend filling opioid prescriptions at Sixth Street Drugs until further notice.

Sixth Street Drugs has continued to fill prescriptions for other types of painkillers, such as Gabapentin and Tramadol, Roe said, and has maintained a small amount of "in stock" opioids at the facility that were transferred to other Munson Healthcare pharmacies as their stock ran low.

These opioids were not dispensed to Sixth Street Drug patients, Roe said, and were stored in a locked cabinet.

Neither Bussell nor Roe commented on whether these were among the drugs that were stolen.

In recent years, substance use disorders related to prescription opioids has left death and suffering in its wake, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting in 2021 that more than 100,000 people died of an opioid overdose in a 12-month period. Not all those deaths were from prescription opioids — some were from heroin, for example. Government agencies have increasingly put forth efforts to curb the diversion of legal opioids to non-legal uses.

DEA Detroit Division Diversion Program Manager Kathy Federico recently highlighted a settlement agreement with Sixth Street Drugs, stating it was among those negotiated due to a partnership between the DEA and attorneys with the Western District of Michigan.

"Two of our big healthcare system cases that we've done here in the Western District, McLaren and Munson — which is really Sixth Street pharmacy — in both of those cases there were actions that were happening in pharmacies," Federico said, during an Aug. 11 press conference.

"If you've got someone inside that facility that has a problem with controlled substances and is looking to try and divert, and you have bad record-keeping, that opens up the door," Federico said.

In January 2021, officials with McLaren Health Care Corp. agreed to pay the United States $7.75 million in a settlement agreement related to allegations of violations of the Controlled Substances Act, following a DEA investigation into several MHCC pharmacies, McLaren Hiland Cottage in Petoskey, and Bear River Health, an unregistered Boyne Falls substance abuse treatment facility, documents show.

The McLaren settlement is the largest of its kind involving allegations of drug diversion at a health care system, Fedrico said.

"We don't show up at a healthcare system unless there is a specific reason like there was at McLaren with one of the pharmacies," Fedrico said, "and at Sixth Street where we had a lot of issues with bad doctors and practitioners that were filling prescriptions at that pharmacy."

Court documents and signed settlement agreements show of particular concern to DEA diversion investigators are filled prescriptions for what is colloquially known as the "holy trinity" — a combination of opioids, benzodiazepines and carisoprodol known to have a high risk of respiratory distress that, in some cases, can lead to overdose and death.

DEA investigators, and unnamed consultant pharmacist reviewers hired by the DEA, flagged concerns about this combination of medications in settlement agreements with Sixth Street and in a civil complaint filed last year in federal court against a Traverse City physician.

Samuel P. Copeland, D.O., who owned and operated Center for Health on Eighth Street, was accused by the DEA of repeatedly violating the Controlled Substances Act between October 2016 and October 2021, court records show.

Copeland, on March 28, signed a consent decree in which he did not admit liability, but agreed to pay the United States government $50,000, surrender the DEA permit authorizing him to prescribe controlled substances, and agree to never re-apply or seek re-instatement.

Fedrico and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hull each pointed to this kind of lifetime ban as one of the tools the partnership between the two government offices has utilized in negotiations.

The DEA can revoke a medical practitioner's controlled substance permit, but Fedrico said the person can usually reapply as soon as the next day, while U.S. attorneys can negotiate years-long or even lifetime bans as part of civil settlement agreements.

In Michigan, a controlled substance license is required to prescribe a class of drugs covered by the Controlled Substance Act, which became law in 1970 and requires the DEA to track drugs from manufacture, or import, to patient.

The state's Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs records controlled substance licenses for medical professionals, and on its public-facing website, shows Copeland's license remains active and up for renewal in 2025.

Copeland's attorney Chris Cooke said Copeland has fully complied with the consent decree, and suggested this was a possible record-keeping error on LARA's part.

LARA's communication office did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Thus far, settlement agreements negotiated by attorneys with the Western District of Michigan have gained more than $10 million for U.S. coffers, and Hull said most of that goes directly into the U.S. Treasury.

"With these civil penalties, about 3 percent can be used to fund other types of enforcement efforts within our office," Hull said. "We use that to fund different positions who work with DEA so we are able to work on these cases proactively."