 "Photo: Caitlin Coughlan/Collegian")
The University of Massachusetts Police Department (UMPD) has charged a student worker for allegedly stealing Adderall, a controlled substance, from the pharmacy at University Health Services (UHS).
David J. Bach, 19, of 13 Bach Lane in South Hadley, pleaded innocent Friday at his arraignment and is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 30, according to the Eastern Hampshire District Court clerk's office.
Police suspect Bach, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, of substituting the prescriptions with over the counter ibuprofen pills while working as a clerk at the pharmacy, according to a statement from Ed Blaguszewski, director of the University's Office of News and Information.
Pharmacy staff is contacting individuals who filled these kinds of prescriptions between Sept. 2 and Oct. 2 to verify contents, Blaguszewski said.
"Patients regularly taking medications are typically accustomed to the appearance of their pills and are likely to question those which appear different," Blaguszewski said. "UHS medical experts also noted that adverse effects from consuming the substituted remedies are unlikely."
An anonymous UMass junior from the College of Engineering, noticed the pills he received on Sept. 10 from UHS looked different from the Adderall he received in the past.
The student said he wished to remain anonymous because medical records are a confidential matter.
He said he noticed the pills were round instead of elliptical and blue instead of brown when he had the prescription filled, but did not give it much thought because he still had pills left from his last bottle.
Once that bottle was almost empty, he decided to do a Google search of the numbers "44 291" engraved on the pills because they did not match the "b 972" imprinted on his Adderall. The results said the pills were a Walgreens brand of Ibuprofen called "Wal-profen."
He then went to UHS to ask about the pills. The staff at UHS found the pill counts - records indicating how many pills are given out to each person - to be accurate, so he said that the pharmacy told him there was nothing they could do.
This weekend he received a call from UHS telling him of the alleged pill theft, he said.
The issue was resolved without the student running out of Adderall, or taking any of the Ibuprofen of was given on Sept. 10, he said.
He said that under different circumstances, however, it could have been worse.
"If I was diabetic or something this could have been very dangerous," he said.
Another student called the alleged theft selfish.
"He wasn't considering other people's health, he was only thinking about himself," said senior Shazia Akhtar, a UMass student and biology and psychology major.
Students with questions about their prescriptions can call 413-577-5041, or bring the medication or its empty container to the Health Center's Walk-in Care department at 150 Infirmary Way between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Matt Rocheleau can be reached at mrochele@student.umass.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!