B.C.'s pharmacists are not prepared to detect or deal with prescription drug fraud, according to a new study conducted by the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.

The study found that even if there's something obviously wrong with a prescription slip, many pharmacists are worried about what would happen if they confronted a patient, according to co-author Dr. Irwin Cohen, the research director of the university's centre for social responsibility.

'Some people are using fraudulent prescriptions to obtain powerful and dangerous medications to sell for profit.'Dr. Irwin Cohen, of the Centre for Social Responsiblity, UFV

"It is a very personal individual decision when someone comes with a fraudulent prescription or if someone comes with clear signs of abuse," said Cohen.

"It's certainly not pandemic yet," Cohen added. "But pharmacists are telling us they are ill equipped to deal with the problem. We also can't discount the fact that some people are using fraudulent prescriptions to obtain powerful and dangerous medications to sell for profit."

No clear authority

Part of the problem is there is a lot of responsibility put on pharmacists without a lot of authoritative support if they do detect possible drug abuse by a patient, a fraudulent prescription, or even an error on the doctor's part, said Cohen.

Many pharmacists felt like their hands were tied and were uncertain what procedures they should follow, he said.

"Do I fill the prescription? Do I withhold the prescription? Do I call the doctor?" are just some of the questions pharmacists face, he said.

Rather than calling police, most of the pharmacists who answered the survey said they wanted to know how to help patients abusing prescription drugs.

They didn't think their responsibilities extended beyond referring the drug abuser to counselling or other help.

"Beyond that, beyond ensuring that they go to counselling, beyond ensuring that other kind of processes occur, they don't see their role as that, and I think that would become pretty tricky to do," he said.

More training prescribed

Cohen said the survey led him to conclude that pharmacists in B.C. need more training to detect prescription fraud.

"A lot of this goes by gut instinct. There isn't really sufficient sophisticated modern training on how to identify prescription fraud."

The report also recommends the province end paper-based prescriptions and create a secure electronic system to cut down on fraud.

"The pharmacist [receives] an electronic piece of information which has got the doctor's licence number and whatever other verifiable security measures required, so that the pharmacist knows, yes, this did come from the doctor, and here's your prescription."

Cohen also recommended more pharmacists should be using a central database called PharmaNet, which helps track prescription abuse in B.C.

PharmaNet changes in the works?

According to the PharmaNet website, every prescription dispensed in B.C. is entered into the provincewide network which links all B.C. pharmacies to a central set of data systems.

An upgrade to the system allowing electronic prescribing is already in the works, according to the website, but it did not state a timeline for a rollout of any changes.

The study was conducted by the B.C. Centre for Social Responsibility, which is housed in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley.

The researchers mailed 1,500 surveys to pharmacists across B.C. to determine their awareness of prescription drug abuse and the extent to which they felt able and even obliged to intervene in cases of real or suspected misuse or abuse.