Forgeries, thefts and prevention

Prescriptions are sometimes forged because many narcotics are cheaper and safer as prescription drugs than as street drugs. Forgery takes many forms: Doctor's prescription pads are sometimes stolen, amounts may be altered on legitimate prescriptions, call back numbers may be falsified and phoned or faxed prescriptions faked.

Some doctors will use prescription pads that contain similar security measures as checks to make photocopying prescriptions harder. These security measures may be mandated by law—see Exhibit C for sample legal specifications. Legislation may mandate that only certain printers may print prescriptions. New Jersey, for example, requires that only state approved printers may be used to print official "New Jersey Prescription Blanks." (See Exhibit E.) Prescribers can make it harder for amount forgeries by writing out the amounts in words. Again, this may be mandated by law.

Canadian woman faces 234 counts of double-doctoring

Some jurisdictions help control stolen prescriptions by requiring special "triplicate prescriptions" for certain classes of drugs . Blank triplicates are only available from the regulating agency and are individually numbered. The doctor retains a copy, the second and third copies are given to the patient to give to the pharmacist. The pharmacist retains the second copy and the third copy is submitted to the regulating agency. The regulating agency can issue lists of stolen prescriptions that pharmacists can check. In this example, the prescription's validity is further limited to 72 hours from issuance. This system also has the further benefit of managing "double doctoring" where patients visit multiple doctors to get prescriptions.

States have various laws making theft of prescription blanks or forgery of prescriptions criminal offenses and/or providing special treatment for these offenses (for Example N.J. Stat. 2C:21-1. making forgery of a prescription blank a third degree rather than fourth degree offense).[13]

When forgery is suspected, pharmacists will call the doctor to verify the prescription and will attempt to detain the suspect pending arrival of authorities. Forged prescriptions are no longer considered medical documents and doctor-patient confidentiality rules no longer apply.