Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 Source: Age, The (Australia) Copyright: 2000 David Syme & Co Ltd Contact: 250 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia Website: http://www.theage.com.au/ Author: Wendy Busfield FORGERY FOR DRUGS WARNING FORGED prescriptions cost the Federal Government up to $20 million in Victoria alone, pharmacists warn. They say up to 20,000 forged prescriptions are exchanged for restricted drugs in this state every year. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia revealed the statistics yesterday in a bid to tackle the alarming level of prescription forgery. The Victorian branch of the industry body called for tighter controls on blank prescription pads, urging the government to offer incentives for chemists who detect and report cases. It also wants a Victoria Police hotline for reports. Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge agreed forgery was a problem, but said a plan to introduce bar codes on prescription forms would solve many problems. Dr Wooldridge said the bar codes would be introduced this year, with a space for individual medical numbers. He was responding to comments by society spokesman Irvine Newton, who said blank prescription pads were stolen from doctors' surgeries or copied using sophisticated computer scanners. He said heroin addicts and other illegal drug users were the main culprits, but organised crime could be involved in the trade. Prescription pads were stolen in burglaries, but some people were faking medical conditions to obtain the drugs. By contrast, some doctors were writing prescriptions for drugs without abiding by professional standards. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart