Medical prescriptions falsified by the patients: a twelve ‐year national monitoring to assess prescription drug diversion

This study aimed to characterize diversion of prescription drugs in France through a comparative analysis of falsified prescriptions collected during three periods from 2001 to 2012. The data recorded in a national program which records all falsified prescriptions presented to community pharmacies were studied. Included data regarded: subjects, prescription forms and drugs. Description of the dataset in 3 periods (2001‐2004, 2005‐2008, and 2009‐2012) was completed with clustering analyses to characterize profiles of prescriptions and subjects associated with the most reported drugs. The 4469 falsified prescriptions concerned most often females (51.6%). Average age was 46.5 years. Zolpidem, bromazepam and buprenorphine were the most frequent drugs. Alone, 13 drugs (1.7%, 13/772) represented more than 40% of the total reports (3055/7272). They were associated with 3 diversion profiles: 1) buprenorphine, flunitrazepam, morphine were mentioned on overlapping secure prescription forms presented by young men; 2) alprazolam, bromazepam, zolpidem, codeine/acetaminophen were mentioned on simple prescription forms presented by experienced women; and 3) acetaminophen and lorazepam were mentioned on modified prescription forms presented by elderly subjects. Clonazepam, clorazepate, dextropropoxyphene, zopiclone moved between those profiles. The patterns of falsified prescriptions provided in this study contribute to enhance the scientific knowledge on the most diverted prescription...
Source: Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research