The Cincinnati Police Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad was formed through a Byrnes Memorial Grant in October 1990. Initially, the squad consisted of one supervisor, four investigators, and a secretary. The grant term ended in 1994, but because of the successes, the City of Cincinnati decided to continue to finance the operation.
In 1996, the unit was contracted by the multi-jurisdictional drug task force, DART, to assist in the investigation of prescription drug offenses. Two additional investigators were added to the compliment to assist with the increased work load.
PDS has the responsibility of investigating offenses that involve the illegal diversion of pharmaceutical drugs. This encompasses the investigation of forged and altered prescriptions, various deceptions to obtain drugs, including "doctor shoppers", traffickers in prescription drugs, health care fraud, and the diversion of prescription drugs by health care professionals in health care facilities. PDS also plays a major role in the investigation of armed robberies and burglaries occurring in area pharmacies.
PDS personnel have investigated over 2,600 cases, resulting in over 1,300 felony drug arrests for pharmaceutical diversion offenses. Almost 22,000 bogus prescriptions, and 1.6 million dosage units have been identified as diverted through illegal means. A perpetual inventory of diverted pharmaceuticals, and their current street value, has been maintained since the squad’s inception. The squad has also enjoyed a 98% conviction rate on their arrests.
PDS places a major emphasis on the investigation and prosecution of health care professionals. In 1997, PDS personnel averaged the arrest of a health care professional every seven days. Due to the important issues of patient safety and liability, these cases are given a top priority of investigation.
The Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad publishes and distributes a monthly newsletter to over 600 locations in the Cincinnati area. This provides PDS with a constant communication with local pharmacies, other health care professionals, and certain law enforcement agencies. When exigent circumstances exist, PDS has the capability of faxing information to 300 pharmacies in less than two hours.
PDS places special importance on cooperating with a wide range of agencies in the investigation of pharmaceutical diversion offenses. Joint investigations with State and Federal regulatory agencies, and private health care insurance carriers is commonplace. PDS maintains an intelligence data base on over 7,000 suspects, which assists in those investigations.
The Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad has provided training for over 1,000 law enforcement officers and several thousand health care professionals. Countless officers from across the United States have been trained by PDS personnel, on the job, in Cincinnati. PDS strongly supports and participates in the training opportunities provided by the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI), on both the national and state levels.
The Cincinnati Police Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad welcomes any questions, comments, or general discussion on the issues involving pharmaceutical diversion.
Sergeant Russ Neville
