How do pharmacists know a prescription is legit?

eth0_

I was getting a precription filled last week and noticed that there's really nothing remarkable about prescriptions in Ireland - often they're just on an A5 sheet of headed paper and that's it!

How do pharmacists know a prescription is legitimate and hasn't been forged by someone with a bit of computer know-how?

Owen

I never understand this either. I know that Pharmacies will be able to put in the reference number the doctor supplies, to confirm it is him that has placed the order, but technically, if you knew your Doc's reference number, had headed paper, and extraordinarily messy handwriting, you could forge one quite easily I'd imagine.

Jimoslimos

Interesting point, I'd imagine that pharmacists would have a good idea which drugs are more likely to be susceptible to have forged prescriptions presented. Where I'm living now all prescriptions are computer-generated and printed. Don't look easy to forge (as well as being much easier to read:) )

eth0_

ned78 - I have a prescription here which has no reference number on it, in fact i've never noticed any form of reference number from a doctor before?

John2002

A few years ago I was staying in a hotel with my mother and I needed some prescription tablets because I had left mine at home. My mother wrote a prescription for me on headed notepaper from the hotel which I presented at a pharmacy and they gave me the tablets without batting an eyelid.

My mother is legally allowed to write prescriptions and she had all the correct info written out (quantities in mg etc, no reference number though), but I was surprised at how nobody said a word when I gave it to them in the pharmacy.

Kwekubo

There's a couple of tricks that doctors use when writing prescriptions in order to catch out would-be counterfeiters; I don't think I can really go into them here. There's also the factor of pharmacists getting to know the handwriting and prescribing habits of the GPs whose prescriptions they get on a regular basis; for example, if someone turns up in their shop looking for a larger than normal quantity of a controlled drug then pharmacists sometimes call up the doctor to double check.

hunnymonster

wasn't there a sunday paper's journalist last year who exposed just this problem by writing her own scripts and getting them filled. As far as I remembe whe got the drugs, wrote the article and then handed the drugs back but there were some threats to prosecute her. Sorry, I'm a bit vague on the details.

Zillah

Kwekubo wrote:

There's a couple of tricks that doctors use when writing prescriptions in order to catch out would-be counterfeiters; I don't think I can really go into them here. There's also the factor of pharmacists getting to know the handwriting and prescribing habits of the GPs whose prescriptions they get on a regular basis; for example, if someone turns up in their shop looking for a larger than normal quantity of a controlled drug then pharmacists sometimes call up the doctor to double check.

If I promise I'm not a drug user will you tell me? I'm really quite curious for curiosities sake as to what secret codes doctors employ in prescriptions.

eth0_

Zillah wrote:

If I promise I'm not a drug user will you tell me? I'm really quite curious for curiosities sake as to what secret codes doctors employ in prescriptions.

Sounds like BS to me. I've never noticed any code on prescriptions before. maybe from a hospital yes, but not from GP's. The one I have here literally is a normal A5 sheet of headed paper with
"yasmin 3mgx6"

and my name and address.

What's to stop me making my own prescription for some valium and going into a branch of boots in town to get it filled? It seems pretty stupid.

DrIndy

No talk on forging scripts please. There are ways of double checking and they are well employed.