Group Voices Support For Park Nicollet Clinic Security Officer Accused Of Stealing Insulin
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities security guard is charged with stealing nine boxes of insulin from a clinic where he worked, but a group pushing for affordable diabetes medication is now trying to help him.
In late March, officials at Park Nicollet Clinic in St. Louis Park noticed insulin was disappearing. That's when a corporate investigator installed a camera where the insulin is stored.
According to the criminal complaint, the camera caught a security guard walking into the room and leaving with nine boxes of insulin worth $4,366.
The Hennepin County Attorney office says they do not know the motive behind the theft. But the group Minnesota Insulin for All says they believe they do.
"I will never try and justify a criminal act. Once I did some research and learned he is in fact has Type 1 diabetes, it broke my heart," Quinn Nystrom, with Minnesota Insulin For All, said. "Yet again, we have another example of people going to extreme and drastic measures to simply try and keep themselves alive."
Nystrom says the nine boxes of insulin 44-year-old Bradley Stockert took constitute a two- to three-month supply. She says a vial of insulin 20 years ago cost $16, but today that same vial is $360.
Nystrom believes more needs to be done to make the drug more affordable. She and others met with Gov. Tim Walz last month calling for a special session to pass the Alex Smith Emergency Bill that would allow up to three months of emergency insulin for people in need. That never happened, but Nystrom says she and her organization will continue to fight.
Nystrom is planning another road trip to Canada to buy insulin.
Park Nicollet Clinic says Stockert is no longer works there.