Pharmacy Employee Charged with Stealing, Selling Insulin

A Camano Island man is being indicted for a scheme to steal and sell diabetic supplies, including insuling, from the Everett, Wash. pharmacy where he worked. Michael Ralph Worley, 43, is being charged along with Donald Alan Peppin, 55, of Jupiter, Florida with wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, Worley was working as a pharmacy technician at Providence Medical Center’s Pacific campus pharmacy when he began stealing large amounts of insulin. Pepin contacted Worley by email and began to directly purchase insulin products for his business, First Medical Resources, Inc. The insulin was not refrigerated during shipping or storing, making it unsafe for use.

Worley is alleged to have stolen $366,054 worth of insulin from the hospital, or over $1.2 million in retail value. Diabetics could sicken from using improperly stored insulin, the Food and Drug Administration said.

AUTHOR: Annette Hulbert