Verlust durch Inventurschwund und Medikamentendiebstahl in der Apotheke

Definition

Australian pharmacists are legally obligated to maintain detailed records of supply, including labelling with patient name, date dispensed and a reference number linking to the prescription record for poisons and drugs of dependence, and to keep accurate prescription and supply records in pharmacy dispensing systems.[2][4] For drugs of dependence and Schedule 8 medicines, legislation and regulatory guidance require strict controls, including lawful possession and supply only at approved premises, with pharmacists personally ensuring safe and appropriate supply and being alert to excessive or suspicious requests.[4][5] Where pharmacies rely on manual counts and paper‑based or loosely controlled electronic systems, small discrepancies in controlled‑drug stock can accumulate without timely investigation. When auditors or inspectors identify that stock on hand does not reconcile with the controlled‑drug register and prescription records, the pharmacy must write off the discrepancy as loss, and may have to conduct internal investigations and report the loss as a reportable drug event to regulators.[4][5] Logic‑based estimation: given the high wholesale value of many controlled and specialised prescription medicines, a mid‑sized community pharmacy experiencing periodic untraced losses of even 1–2 packs per month of high‑value items (e.g. Schedule 8 opioids, ADHD stimulants, or other dependence‑prone drugs) at an average wholesale cost of AUD 200–400 per pack would incur inventory losses of approximately AUD 2,400–9,600 per year. Larger or higher‑risk pharmacies could easily see annual shrinkage in the AUD 10,000–20,000 range when including non‑controlled but high‑value items. These amounts are pure margin erosion, as insurers typically do not compensate unexplained shrinkage or non‑burglary‑related losses; they are borne directly by the pharmacy's P&L.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Australian retail pharmacies 🇦🇺 lose an estimated AUD 5,000–20,000 per year in shrinkage of high‑value prescription and controlled drugs due to weak dispensing controls. Automating stock‑controlled dispensing, electronic S8 registers and reconciliation workflows can significantly reduce these avoidable write‑offs.

Affected Stakeholders

Pharmacy owner, Pharmacist in charge, Dispensing pharmacists, Inventory and stock control staff, Group pharmacy operations managers

Related Business Risks