PHARMACISTS and doctors in South Australia will be able to combat prescription medication abuse with the launch of the State's real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) system, ScriptCheckSA.
Announcing the launch of the system - developed by FredIT Group (PD 09 Jul 2020) - SA Health Minister, Stephen Wade, said ScriptCheckSA would enable pharmacists to review a patient's history and use of controlled medicines when considering whether to dispense drugs of dependence.
The medications which will be recorded include any Schedule 8 poison, benzodiazepines, medications containing codeine, gabapentin, pregbalin, quetiapine, tramadol, zolpidem and zopiclone.
"Prescription drug dependence and misuse are a major public health concern," Wade said.
"Nationwide, the supply of prescription medicines is increasing, as is the rate of overdose and accidental death.
"ScriptCheckSA will expose inappropriate use of high-risk medications and reduce 'doctor shopping' - visiting several different doctors to get the same prescription for a controlled medicine.
"We want to ensure that patients who genuinely need access to prescription medicines can still access them, but also identify a person's potentially harmful use of monitored drugs during a patient consultation.
"ScriptCheckSA gives doctors and pharmacists reassurance that they are making safer clinical decisions before a prescription for a monitored drug is written or dispensed.
"This is not about limiting people's access to their medication, but identifying those who are abusing high-risk prescription medication, and minimising the risk of addiction, overdose and death.
"All states and territories in Australia have agreed to implement national real-time prescription monitoring as part of the solution to help save lives and reduce harm in the community.
"South Australia is now the second state to give prescribers and pharmacists the power to tackle this issue head on."
Use of ScriptCheckSA will initially be voluntary, however SA Health has said it is expected to become mandatory for prescribers and pharmacists in 2022.
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