Ozempic and opioids: Lloydspharmacy worker sentenced for £1.3k POM theft
A Lloydspharmacy worker who stole Ozempic from the Widnes pharmacy she worked at has been given a suspended sentence of 29 weeks in prison.
A pharmacy worker has been found guilty of theft after stealing various prescription-only medicines (POMs) with a value of around £1,320 from the Lloydspharmacy where she worked, C+D has learned.
Debbie Monaghan, 43, of Kremlin Drive in Liverpool, stole Ozempic from a Lloydspharmacy branch in Widnes and was caught by her manager with boxes of the semaglutide drug in her bag in March this year, local police said.
On the same day, she was also caught in possession of the controlled drug dihydrocodeine in Widnes, they added.
Read more: Young Well Pharmacy worker sentenced for stealing £1.3k from till
Cheshire Constabulary told C+D that Monaghan pleaded guilty and was sentenced on August 21 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court for charges of theft by an employee and possessing a controlled drug.
She was sentenced to 29 weeks in prison suspended for two years and must complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity as well as paying £750 in compensation, the force said.
Read more: New GPhC weight loss regs: Online patient forms must be ‘supplemented’
Newport Courts & Tribunals Service confirmed that the magistrates said that “the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified”.
But magistrates acknowledged that “she is a realistic prospect for rehabilitation and that an immediate sentence would have a significant impact on her daughter, whom she has sole custody of”, they added.
Theft, Ozempic and Lloydspharmacy
It comes after burglars broke into a Northampton pharmacy “via the roof” and stole Viagra, cash and sleeping pills last month.
And a young Well Pharmacy worker was last month sentenced to a community order of 100 hours unpaid work for stealing £1.3k from the till over a five-month period.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy parent company ‘exiting the healthcare services sector’
Meanwhile, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) this week announced plans to consult on a raft of “additional safeguards” that online pharmacies offering weight loss drugs like semaglutide must provide.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told C+D last week that it is “removing around 100 posts” advertising POMs like Ozempic on social media “a day” as a joint regulator “enforcement operation” works to crack down on this.
Lloydspharmacy confirmed the “successful sale” of all 1,054 of its high street and community pharmacies back in November 2023.
