Skip to main content

Preventing Misuse of Prescription Drugs

 Physicians and pharmacists should join hands with the authorities and do their best to identify, prevent and control misuse of controlled substances. They should also abide by the governing regulations.


The controlled substances are controlled for good reason – they have a potentially high risk of leading to addiction, overdose complications and even death. This is why the federal and state authorities have instituted a string of laws for the scheduled drugs.


To start with, DEA controlled substance licenses are mandatory for issuing these drugs. This subjects the licensed medical professionals to varied rules and regulations to ensure the utmost safe and secure use at all times. Additionally, the DEA, CDC and other agencies publish guidelines on a regular basis, institute prescription drug monitoring programs and launch other initiatives to prevent and identify prescription drug misuse as far as possible.

The onus is also on the clinicians and pharmacists to prevent and control non-medical use of prescription drugs. Following are some of the measures that they can take:

  • Physicians should be more cautious and responsible when prescribing the controlled substances.
  • Patients should be advised to follow the directions of use and not change the dosing regimen without consulting the doctor.
  • They should make it a point to ask about all the medications that a patient is taking and watch out for warning signs of abuse or overdose.
  • Clinicians can even incorporate evidence-based screening tools for non-medical use of prescription drugs into the routine medical visits.
  • They should pay careful attention to rapid increases in the amount of medication needed or frequent, unscheduled refill requests.
  • Medical professionals should be particularly wary of ‘doctor shopping’, wherein abusers and diverters visit different providers so as to obtain multiple prescriptions for the scheduled drugs.
  • Pharmacists, on their part, should keep an eye out for prescription falsifications and alterations which are more common than they can expect. In fact, they can go a step ahead and alert other pharmacies in the region when they suspect a fraudulent prescription.
  • They are also in the prime position to recognize problematic patterns in prescription drug abuse.
  • The pharmacists should also make it a point to explain the instructions for taking the medications to the patients along with warning them about the dangerous effects of abusing the same. They should also be made privy to the possibility of theft and other abuse of the controlled substances.
  • They should further educate the patients about not giving their prescriptions or the medications to others apart from the safe conditions for storing these drugs.


Finally, safety has to be both within and without. The DEA registrants are required to abide by all the rules and regulations governing the controlled substances. This begins with the controlled substance license registration and culminates in proper disposal of the expired/unused drugs as required by the law. There is a whole gamut of records, documentation, storage, security and more in between.

Having a professional compliance service provider on hand will ensure peace of mind and safety at all times!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are Controlled Drugs?

Medications that can be abused or cause dependance are classified as controlled drugs. They are subject to strict government regulations at every level with an eye on preventing misuse and abuse. Medical science invented drugs to provide relief from various ailments and enable us to stay healthy. These medications are of different types and work on the human body in myriad ways. While the benefits are wide-ranging, some of them are also known to have a potential of physical or psychological dependance. This can cause addiction, leading to abuse or other kinds of misuse. Considering the risks involved in such drugs, governments across the world take measures to regulate their use even while ensuring access to the patients. Control Measures in USA The United States enacted the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) - as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, 1970 – to control and regulate controlled substance drugs . Accordingly, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DE...
Post a Comment
Read more

Registration and Renewal with the DEA

The DEA has a specific procedure for applying for registration and obtaining a DEA license and number. This also has to be renewed at regular intervals. We delve into the details of the requisite procedures. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is charged with the responsibility of regulating all aspects of handling the controlled substances. Accordingly, any physician, dentist, veterinarian, scientific investigator, pharmacy, hospital or other person who will distribute, dispense, administer, conduct research, or use in teaching or chemical analysis any controlled substance has to first register with the DEA. In other words, any person or entity that handles controlled substances must be registered with the DEA.   Following are the steps for obtaining a regular or veterinary DEA license : Download the requisite DEA Form 224 or 225 from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/index.html From May 11th, 2022, the DEA requires all applications for registration and renewal to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Training Begets DEA Compliance in a Big Way!

Every DEA registrant and their team needs to fully understand the DEA requirements. However, the regulations are complex and wide-ranging. Training is the perfect solution for maintaining full compliance! Every physician, dentist, veterinarian, pharmacy and hospital that prescribes, administers or dispenses controlled substances in the USA is required to get registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). These registrants are subject to a host of regulations that are designed to curtail the misuse, abuse and diversion of the controlled substances as they can lead to addiction and other health risks. The regulations cover everything from the ordering and prescribing of the scheduled drugs to the security, inventory, recordkeeping and reporting. The DEA maintains constant oversight with inspections and audits on a regular basis. Any hint of non-compliance can invite an investigation, and the consequences can be detrimental. Therefore, staying in compliance is crucial and DEA ...
Post a Comment
Read more