As emergency physicians, we are experts in pain control. We frequently write opiate prescriptions for patients being discharged home. Unfortunately, an occasional patient tries to forge my prescription. At times, I get a call from pharmacy for prescriptions that were suspiciously written. For instance several years ago, I had someone try to forge 100 tablets of “Mophine”.
Trick of the Trade
When writing opiate prescriptions, you might consider developing a system. Some people dispense these medications in increments of 10’s. Some choose increments of 10, but starting with 8 (8, 18, 28, or 38 tablets). In fact, I have heard of one attending use only prime numbers!
I used to write “Do not drive while taking medications” on the prescriptions, and so when prescriptions didn’t have this additional recommendation, I knew that I did not write them. I’m unfortunately not as consistent doing this and so now it’s not a helpful screening approach for me.
What system have you used or heard of?
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