Twenty years ago, with pharmaceutical drug abuse the second leading form of drug abuse across the nation, there existed a growing need for ways to address the national edidemic. It was out of this need that National Rx Security was born.
As an entrepreneur in 1990, I began to investigate different businesses to initiate that would, in some way, give something back to society. It was during my research that I discovered the alarming statistic regarding pharmaceutical drug abuse in the United States. Correlated research revealed that illegal drug abuse had a severely detrimental effect on much of the population, and detailed the numerous crimes related to drug abuse.
In the case of illicit pharmaceutical drug use, associated crimes can easily affect doctors and their practices. The means by which someone may illegally obtain and/or falsify a prescription for narcotic drugs put physicians at risk for probation, tarnishing of reputation, and even loss of license. Though there are several ways that a criminal may succeed in this illegal action, the most common method is by stealing or modifying an Rx form from a doctor, which contains registered information such as DEA and other license information. The criminal can then use a counterfeit script themselves, or sell blank doctor-personalized scripts to others. Because the scripts are traceable back to the doctor, a consequence can be an official police investigation of the practitioner, and subsequent legal action.
National Rx Security was formed after almost two years of industry research, as a company to design, manufacture and distribute tamper resistant prescription blanks. The mission from day one has been to stem the tide of Rx blank forgeries and related crime across the nation. Prior to launching our tamper resistant Rx product into the marketplace, our management met with top officials of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington, D.C.. At the time, the DEA was not able to provide endorsements of any company or product, but they openly applauded our initiatives to combat this form of drug abuse. They were also pleased with the intention set by our company to educate physicIans at large about the then 25 billion dollar illegal pharmaceutical drug trade. In a letter from the DEA, they write:
“Your product offers an interesting approach to the problem of forged and stolen prescriptions. It provides prescription security as well as an avenue for prescription abuse education. However, as previously stated at the October 21, 1992 meeting, it is the DEA’s policy not to endorse individual products. We encourage your effort in the fight against pharmaceutical drug diversion.”
In 1992, we launched our first product and have since provided well over 100,000 prescribers with the latest in tamper resistant Rx forms for over 18 years. Many clients have been dealing with National Rx Security for several years, and some even since inception. Though the industry is constantly changing, and new regulations are being implemented continually, National Rx Security’s commitment remains the same- to supply the best product on the market with the most reliable customer service attainable. Our belief is that we, along with each of you, can be proactive in the way we approach the still critical issue of pharmaceutical drug abuse throughout the United States. Together, we can work for a better community.
Dan McCaffery
President, National Rx Security
