Consumers do not need to report a lost or stolen prescription to Pharmaceutical Services. Please contact your prescriber to discuss your options.
Health practitioners are required to report lost, stolen, or forged prescription stationery or prescriptions. The details provided are subsequently published in the table below.
Reporting lost, stolen, or forged prescriptions reduces the risks associated with the trafficking of drugs of abuse, such as alprazolam, and opioids such as fentanyl and oxycodone, sourced through fraudulent prescriptions.
To report lost, stolen, or forged prescriptions, please submit an online notification form by clicking on the blue button below.
Online notification form - Lost, stolen or forged prescriptions
Allow up to two weeks for the submitted information to be published.
The prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged table contains the prescriber details as they appear on the prescription reported to be lost, stolen, or forged.
Prescribers must keep prescription stationery for handwritten or computer-generated prescriptions in a secure location, out of public access, to prevent loss or theft.
Pharmacists should be vigilant when dispensing Schedule 8 (S8) or Schedule 4 Appendix D (S4D) medicines, especially for new patients, unfamiliar prescribers, and quantities larger than permitted on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Verifying a prescription is mandatory if it's for a new patient and a prescriber you don’t know, but it's good practice to do so even if they are known to you. Thorough verification procedures are essential to ensure patient safety and comply with regulations, due to the high risks associated with these medicines. See below for prescription verification tips.
If verification is not possible and there is no reason to suspect the prescription’s validity, up to 2 days' supply of the medicine may be dispensed. The prescription must be retained for future verification.
Request identification or patient consent to verify that the person presenting the prescription is the intended recipient.
Refer to the table below to ensure the prescriber on the prescription is not listed. Use Ctrl+F (or Command+F on Mac) to search for the prescriber on your prescription.
Do not assume that the inclusion of a PBS Authority number verifies the prescription as valid.
Be aware of phone, fax, and email scams.
More information is available atFraudulent prescription guidance for pharmacists.
The reporting of lost, stolen, or forged prescriptions to the Pharmaceutical Services Unit is not mandatory under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966. However, it is an offence under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 (the Regulation) for a pharmacist to dispense Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medicines on a prescription if it appears to have been forged or fraudulently obtained.
It is a legal requirement, under the Regulation, to report prescriptions for Schedule 4 Appendix D or Schedule 8 medicines that are forged, fraudulently altered, or fraudulently obtained to the police.
It is an offence under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985for a person to forge or fraudulently alter or utter, knowing it to be forged or fraudulently altered, a prescription of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, midwife practitioner, or veterinary practitioner. It is also a breach of this legislation for a person who knowingly, by any false representation (whether verbal, in writing, or by conduct), obtains a forged or fraudulently altered prescription, or requests a pharmacist to dispense such a prescription, or to be in possession of such a prescription.
The information below is published as reported by practitioners to Pharmaceutical Services.
To search for a prescriber, use Ctrl+F (or Command+F on Mac) and enter the prescriber details.
The reported details below are as stated on either a lost, stolen, or forged prescription; hence, the contact details may also be forged. If you are presented with a prescription containing the details below, you should contact the prescriber using an independent and reliable source, such as an official clinic website or directory, to verify the prescription.