PHARMACISTS and other health professionals in NSW are being invited to report the loss, theft or forgery of prescriptions via a new online notification form on the Pharmacy Council of NSW website.
The NSW Ministry of Health will now be publishing the prescriber details of the reported prescriptions, in order to help reduce the trafficking of drugs of abuse such as alprazolam, fentanyl and oxycodone sourced through fraudulent scripts.
"Pharmacists are encouraged to be more vigilant in verifying the validity of prescriptions from authorised practitioners who have had their prescription stationery reported lost or stolen," the ministry's website advises.
The NSW Health Department also says pharmacists should be aware that some prescription stationery is printed with a false name, address or telephone number of the prescriber, and says care should be taken when contacting a purported prescriber using the telephone number provided because they may not in fact be speaking to the registered health practitioner.
"The prescriber's name may be checked on the AHPRA Register of Practitioners, and the practice address and telephone number should be verified independently through other published sources," the department said.
The reporting of lost, stolen or forged prescriptions is not mandatory under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 however the ministry confirmed it was an offence for a pharmacist to dispense S4 and S8 medicines if it appears a script has been forged or fraudulently obtained.
The full list of prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged can be viewed at health.nsw.gov.au.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 05 Oct 17
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