Lost, stolen or forged prescriptions

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​On this page​

1. Reporting lost, stolen, or forged prescriptions
2. Information for pharmacists​
3. Prescription verification tips
4. What to do if presented with a forged prescription​ ​​
5. Legislation​ ​
6. Prescriptions reported lost, stolen, or forged for the year 2025​ 
7. Historical data for prescriptions reported lost, st​olen, or forged​

​​Reporting lost, ​stolen, or forged prescriptions

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. 

​Information for pharmacists​​​

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.

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​Prescription verification tips​

Review the prescription carefully​

Be aware of phone, fax, and email scams.

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​​​What to do if presented with a forged prescription 

• ​Do not dispense it. 
• Paper prescriptions should be retained, and electronic prescriptions cancelled to make the token invalid and unable to be used by any person. Electronic prescriptions may be 'disabled' in dispensing software systems that are up to date with the most recent conformance profile. If you are not aware of the ‘disable’ functionality within your dispensing software, contact your dispensing vendor to request instructions on disabling electronic prescriptions. 
• Report suspicious or forged prescriptions immediately to Pharmaceutical Services using the online notification form. It is a legal requirement to report the incident to the police​​​. 
• Electronic prescriptions may be reported to the Digital Health Agency via email at fraud@digitalhealth.gov.au.​

​​Legislation

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 offe​nce 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 conduc​t), 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.

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​​​​​Prescriptions reported lost, stolen, or forged for the year 2025

​The information below is published as reporte​d 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.​​

​​Historical data for prescriptions reported lost, stolen, or forged​​

• Prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged for the year 2024
• Prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged for the year 2023
  
• Prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged for the year 2022
• Prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged for the year 2021
• Prescriptions reported lost, stolen or forged for the yea​r 2020