Phlatus on page 547
No doubt whatever Rothwell stole was a controlled substance, and he probably didn't just slip out of the hospital without anyone noticing. A few hypodermic syringes and a vial or so of narcotics going missing at the same time as a hypergoth looking, weird sounding guy dressed all in black left the hospital AMA (against medical advice) pretty much assured that every cop and paramedic for a few hundred miles knew what he had. Once they heard Rothwell's description they knew exactly what they were dealing with.