my ($IDNUM,   $ISSUEDBY, $DATE_CR, $SUBJECT, $PURPOSE,
       $POLICY1, $POLICY2,  $POLICY3, 
       $POLICY4, $POLICY5,  $POLICY6) = $sth->fetchrow_array;

   $_ ||= '' for ($DATE_CR, $ISSUEDBY, $SUBJECT, $PURPOSE);
   $_ ||= '', s/<br>/\n/ig 
      for ($POLICY1, $POLICY2, $POLICY3, $POLICY4, $POLICY5, $POLICY6);