DETROIT – CVS Pharmacy announced Monday that in all Michigan locations, including the pharmacies located in Target stores, will have time-delay safes.
The safes have been installed to prevent pharmacy robberies and to keep narcotics out of the hands of those who should not have access. They also were installed to ensure the safety of CVS employees and customers.
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With the ongoing opioid crisis, CVS aims to use the safes to combat drug abuse and misuse in the state.
The safe cannot be overridden and is designed to discourage pharmacy robbers whose goal is to get in and out as quickly as possible.
All CVS Pharmacy locations will have visible signage warning that time delay safes are in use.
The company saw a 70 percent decline in pharmacy robberies among Indianapolis stores after the safes were installed.
“Pharmacy robberies are a challenging issue for every pharmacy and we are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of incidents in our Michigan stores,” said Betsy Ferguson, senior vice president and deputy counsel, for CVS Health, during an event today at a CVS Pharmacy in suburban Detroit. “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. These safes will help ensure that our pharmacies remain a safe environment for our patients and colleagues.”
CVS Pharmacy states that they are committed to helping prevent and address prescription drug misuse which extends to community education, efforts to encourage safe disposal of unused medication and increasing access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone.
The company’s Pharmacists Teach program brings CVS pharmacists to schools across the country to talk to students and parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. More than 500,000 students across the country, including over 29,000 in Michigan, have participated in the program.
“I am pleased to join CVS Health today in announcing the installation of time delay safes in all of their pharmacies across our state,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “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. 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 has also completed the installation of 16 safe medication disposal units in Michigan. In addition, 20 units were donated to Michigan law enforcement agencies.
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