Charles Bronson
Bluelighter
Controlled drug sales to be tracked
Mon, 02/05/2011 - 1:27pm
in
Newspaper items
Vaada E-News
Published in The Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/new...trolled-drug-sales-to-be-tracked/2149495.aspx
People buying controlled drugs at pharmacies will be electronically tracked across the country in a world-first scheme being rolled out by the Federal Government.
The Department of Health and Ageing has called for tenders for a new electronic program to monitor drug use and to prevent drug abuse.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia national director Kos Sclavos said the new ''electronic recording and reporting of controlled drugs'' initiative would target drug users exploiting gaps in the system by ''doctor shopping'' and ''pharmacy shopping''.
It would introduce an electronic system used by all Australian pharmacies to record and report the purchase of controlled narcotic prescription drugs.
Mr Sclavos said the scheme would let pharmacists gain information about a patient's drug history as soon as they asked for a prescription drug.
The system will be available nationwide to prevent addicts and drug abusers from crossing state or territory borders to take advantage of different jurisdictions and legislation.
''It would be a first,'' Mr Sclavos said. ''No country has got this right. We have an opportunity because we have a federal health system.''
A national system to record and monitor controlled drugs has long been a priority for the pharmacy guild, which developed Project STOP, a pseudoephedrine register in 2005.
But Project STOP, which is the precursor to the new scheme, does not operate uniformly: it is a legal requirement for pharmacists to record the names and addresses of pseudoephedrine customers in some states and territories only.
Spokesman Shaun Singleton said the most important part of the pseudoephedrine register was its ability to make information available to pharmacists in real time.
For example, if someone tried to buy pseudoephedrine in two pharmacies on the same day, that information would be available to pharmacists.
It is this aspect the national database will harness. Currently, pharmacists update information on prescription narcotics sales in a controlled drug register, which is kept on the pharmacy's premises. Information on sales is sent to territory and state governments regularly, but is not available to other pharmacists.
Mr Sclavos said the new scheme would track the passage of controlled drugs from manufacture to supply and sale.
''We need to make them accessible to the patients but keep track of them. We would know, as we follow a drug through the supply chain, we would know where it is in the system.''
The Department of Health and Ageing will implement the new scheme from July1 next year.
It looks as though that this shit has been around in a while.
Mon, 02/05/2011 - 1:27pm
in
Newspaper items
Vaada E-News
Published in The Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/new...trolled-drug-sales-to-be-tracked/2149495.aspx
People buying controlled drugs at pharmacies will be electronically tracked across the country in a world-first scheme being rolled out by the Federal Government.
The Department of Health and Ageing has called for tenders for a new electronic program to monitor drug use and to prevent drug abuse.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia national director Kos Sclavos said the new ''electronic recording and reporting of controlled drugs'' initiative would target drug users exploiting gaps in the system by ''doctor shopping'' and ''pharmacy shopping''.
It would introduce an electronic system used by all Australian pharmacies to record and report the purchase of controlled narcotic prescription drugs.
Mr Sclavos said the scheme would let pharmacists gain information about a patient's drug history as soon as they asked for a prescription drug.
The system will be available nationwide to prevent addicts and drug abusers from crossing state or territory borders to take advantage of different jurisdictions and legislation.
''It would be a first,'' Mr Sclavos said. ''No country has got this right. We have an opportunity because we have a federal health system.''
A national system to record and monitor controlled drugs has long been a priority for the pharmacy guild, which developed Project STOP, a pseudoephedrine register in 2005.
But Project STOP, which is the precursor to the new scheme, does not operate uniformly: it is a legal requirement for pharmacists to record the names and addresses of pseudoephedrine customers in some states and territories only.
Spokesman Shaun Singleton said the most important part of the pseudoephedrine register was its ability to make information available to pharmacists in real time.
For example, if someone tried to buy pseudoephedrine in two pharmacies on the same day, that information would be available to pharmacists.
It is this aspect the national database will harness. Currently, pharmacists update information on prescription narcotics sales in a controlled drug register, which is kept on the pharmacy's premises. Information on sales is sent to territory and state governments regularly, but is not available to other pharmacists.
Mr Sclavos said the new scheme would track the passage of controlled drugs from manufacture to supply and sale.
''We need to make them accessible to the patients but keep track of them. We would know, as we follow a drug through the supply chain, we would know where it is in the system.''
The Department of Health and Ageing will implement the new scheme from July1 next year.
It looks as though that this shit has been around in a while.