SafeScript red alerts for Geelong revealed

Geelong rehab industry leaders have lifted the lid on the black market for prescription drugs.

Founder of Foundation 61 Rob Lytzki says SafeScript has deterred people from doctor shopping, but a prescription drug black market persists.

More than 31,100 red flags were sent to health workers to review prescribing high-risk medicines for Geelong patients last year, as rehabilitation industry leaders detail how users are sourcing black market prescription drugs.

SafeScript is a real-time prescription monitoring system that went online across Victoria in 2019 to protect people at risk of overdose.

SafeScript gives health workers access to up-to-the-minute information on the prescription history of their patients for high-risk medicines.

Rob Lytzki, founder of Geelong rehab service Foundation 61, said while SafeScript had made it more difficult for people to doctor shop, onselling of prescription drugs was still an issue.

SafeScript monitors Schedule 8 medicines such as morphine and oxycodone, and other high-risk medicines like codeine and diazepam.

Notifications, which come in green, amber or red, assist clinicians to readily identify situations where a patient may be at a higher risk.

Prescribers and pharmacists are required to click on red and amber notifications to review the patient history to assess whether it is safe or appropriate to prescribe or dispense a medicine.

Greater Geelong recorded 31,157 “red” notifications sent to prescribers in 2022, up from 30,448 the year prior.

The data is based on patients addresses.

Victoria recorded 554,044 red notifications sent to prescribers in 2022, up from 548,434 the year prior.

A red notification does not mean the patient or prescriber has done anything wrong.

There are legitimate cases where someone, such as a palliative care patient, could be prescribed high doses of opioids.

Patients may have been prescribed medicines by multiple medicos if they attended hospital or specialist appointments.

Mr Lytzki said about 20 per cent of Foundation 61 clients misused prescription drugs such as diazepam, a benzodiazepine used for anxiety, or Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid addiction.

This was often part of a polydrug use mixed with alcohol or illicit substances, Mr Lytzki said.

They could abuse their own medication, try to take large quantities and go to the doctor with a “dog ate my homework” like plea, or take black market products, he said.

Habitat Therapeutics director Jim Tatlock. Picture: Alison Wynd

Jim Tatlock, director at Newcomb rehab Habitat Therapeutics, said he believed SafeScript had reduced abuse of “mum and dad users” of opiates.

“It has also allowed our business to be safer as we have been notified when an incoming client has been prescribed medications that they chose to not disclose to us,” he said.

“At Habitat we see around 30 per cent of clients attending to treat illicit drug use or alcohol addiction who are also on other medications that in our view are not appropriate.”

He said Seroquel — an antipsychotic — could be bought off the street.

“I believe they can often be sourced from drug dealers who also sell methamphetamine,” he said.

A Victorian health department spokesperson said: “We’re proud that Victoria continues to lead the nation on life-saving pharmaceutical reform.”

“Evidence shows our Australia-first statewide rollout of SafeScript is saving lives,” the spokesperson said.

Before its statewide rollout SafeScript was trialled across Western Victoria.

Dr Anne Stephenson. Picture: Ginger + Mint

Dr Anne Stephenson, a local GP and Western Victoria Primary Health Network clinical spokeswoman, said GPs had found SafeScript very useful.

“It makes it easy to find out if patients are putting themselves at risk by getting medications from a number of different sources,” she said.

“The main drugs that people are inclined to go doctor shopping for are opioids (pain medications) and benzodiazepines.

“Most doctors have experienced both existing and new patients seeing them

with explicit requests for these drugs.”

SafeScript has transitioned to a national data exchange and Victoria is working with the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions on the implementation of a national real-time prescription monitoring system.

Originally published as SafeScript red alerts for Geelong revealed