Pubdate: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 Source: Lethbridge Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2004 The Lethbridge Herald Contact: http://www.mysouthernalberta.com/leth/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/239 Author: Kirsten Harding Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) PROGRAM BATTLING PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE IN PROVINCE Triplicate Prescription Program Monitors Incidents of Abuse With as much as 10 times the active opiate ingredient of other painkillers, OxyContin is prescribed to deliver powerful time-released pain relief. But OxyContin -- or "hillbilly heroin" as it's called on the street -- is also dangerously addictive and said to be responsible for at least 250 overdose deaths in Ontario since 1998 and dozens more across Canada. OxyContin, which contains oxycodone -- a narcotic extracted from opium poppies, which are also used to make heroin -- began making headlines earlier this week after a task force in Newfoundland recommended the provincial cabinet allow police to have access to confidential health records of addicts suspected of illegally obtaining the drug. Officials from the Chinook Health Region weren't able to comment on whether that approach is likely to catch on here, but say measures are already in place which seem to be helping reduce prescription drug abuse. Kelly Eby, of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Alberta, explained Alberta's Triplicate Prescription Program contains a list of narcotics, including OxyContin, that only doctors registered with the program can prescribe. "About 85 per cent of the physicians in Alberta are registered," she says. "We certainly believe it's had an impact (on curbing prescription drug abuse)." The program was the first of its kind in Canada when instituted in 1986. When a prescription for one of the flagged drugs is written, the prescriber retains one copy and two are given to the patient to take to the pharmacy. Upon filling the prescription, the pharmacist keeps one copy and forwards the other to the CPSA for entry in its database. "If patient X is getting prescriptions from five different doctors, it raises the alarm bells," says Eby, adding alternatively if the same physician is writing a lot of prescriptions for one of the listed drugs, that also raises concern. She says the database is electronically monitored in addition to regular checks made by data entry clerks. In five years, Eby adds, the CPSA is also hoping to also connect online with the Pharmacy Information Network so prescription details, particularly those dealing with the flagged drugs, are more readily available to medical professionals and incidents of abuse can be detected sooner. The CPSA is the regulatory body for physicians in the province and should any suspect activity be detected, the organization will investigate the doctor in question and, if warranted, can impose a range of sanctions. In addition to the TPP, other measures also exist in Alberta to help medical professionals and police deal with cases of prescription drug abuse. According to the CPSA website, copies of prescriptions that are stolen and then forged can be turned over to the police. Essentially, because the forgeries are not actually written by a doctor, there is no "health service" being provided under provisions of the Health Information Act. Similarly, the pharmacist asked to fill the prescription is not providing a health service. The CPSA indicates fraudulently altered prescriptions can also be handed over to police because the form is no longer considered "health information." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake