Report a Drug Theft/Drug Loss/Impaired Licensee

Pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 16, section 1715.6, no later than 30 days after the date of discovery, a pharmacy owner must report to the Board:

1. Any loss of a controlled substance in one of the following categories that causes the aggregate amount of unreported losses discovered in that category, on or after the same day of the previous year, to equal or exceed:
• 99 dosage units, for tablets, capsules, or other oral medications.
• 10 dosage units, for single-dose injectable medications, lozenges, film, such as oral, buccal, and sublingual, suppositories, or patches.
• 2 or more multi-dose vials, infusion bags, or other containers, for injectable multi-dose mediations, medications administered by continuous infusion, or any other multi-dose unit that’s not a tablet, capsule, or other oral medication.
2. Any loss of a controlled substance, regardless of the amount, attributed to employee theft.
3.  Any other significant loss as determined by the pharmacist-in-charge, including but not limited to losses deemed significant relative to the dispensing volume of the pharmacy.

To report a drug theft/loss to the Board under 16 CCR section 1715.6:

• Preferred method – Submit online
  While reporting through the Board’s online portal is not mandatory, using the portal will help ensure that all information required by 16 CCR section 1715.6 is submitted. There is an option to print the report once submitted for record keeping. For questions regarding submitting online, send us a message and select "Report a Drug Theft / Drug Loss / Impaired Licensee" from the drop down list.
• By fax to (916) 574-8614, or
• By mail to 2720 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95833

A copy of the DEA-106 form can be sent to the Board of Pharmacy if one was completed and submitted to the DEA. (You can complete and submit the DEA 106 form on-line to the DEA at https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/webforms/app106Login.jsp). However, notifications of controlled substance drug losses sent to the Board of Pharmacy may be in any format that includes the following information:

• Pharmacy Name and Address
• Date(s) of Loss or Theft
• Type of Theft or Loss
• Name of the carrier (if “Lost in Transit”)
• Name, quantity, and strength of the drug(s) lost or stolen
• Person submitting the loss notification with contact information
• Board of Pharmacy license numbers of all parties involved

Optional, but helpful information to include:

• Previous number of thefts or losses
• NDC number(s)
• Any details that may be pertinent to the loss (if applicable)

Note: The reporting requirement set forth in (2) above is in addition to the reporting requirements and time frames mandated by Business and Professions Code (BPC) section 4104. BPC section 4104 requires every pharmacy to report and provide to the Board, within 14 days of the receipt or development thereof, specified information with regard to any licensed individual employed by or with the pharmacy and who is discovered or known to:

• Be chemically, mentally, or physically impaired to the extent it affects his or her ability to practice the profession or occupation authorized by his or her license; or
• Have engaged in the theft, diversion, or self-use of dangerous drugs. 

To report an impaired licensee under BPC section 4104, file a complaint with the California State Board of Pharmacy.
In recognition of the ongoing national opioid crisis and in addition to the mandatory reporting obligations to the Board included in BPC section 4104, the Board encourages pharmacies and pharmacists to contact local law enforcement for guidance on matters involving narcotic diversion by its employees.