Woman forced to fly to Melbourne to pick up ADHD medication due to states’ differing Poisons Acts

A Tasmanian woman faced with either waiting six weeks to be prescribed vital ADHD medication, or travelling interstate to have her script filled, has spoken out about the minefield of red tape facing those with the condition.

Indiana Harley was forced to travel to Melbourne to collect an essential ADHD prescription. Picture: Linda Higginson

Faced with a lengthy delay for essential medication, a Tasmanian woman was forced to travel to Melbourne to get help for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or wait up to six weeks for script approvals.

Indiana Harley was formally diagnosed with ADHD this year through a telehealth psychiatry service based in Tasmania.

She was prescribed Vyvanse, a stimulant medication commonly used for people with the disability.

But when Ms Harley’s Hobart psychiatry service moved its practice to Melbourne, getting her script filled was difficult.

“They told me my only option was to have another telehealth appointment and to get in touch with my GP who would write the script for me,” she said.

“But I was nearly at the end of my bottle, and they said getting the script approval could take a while.”

Indiana Harley was forced to travel to Melbourne to fill her script for Vyvanse, a medication used for ADHD, or wait up to six weeks for script approvals. Picture: Supplied

At the start of November, Ms Harley had to fly to Melbourne airport to fill her script prescribed by her psychiatrist.

She said it could not have been dispensed in Tasmania because of Victoria’s strict poisons regulation.

The medication lasted her 30 days while she waited for her Tasmanian GP to get script approval from the pharmaceutical services branch.

“There was no way around it of having to get my prescription sent to Hobart regardless, even if I was running out,” she said.

“I shouldn’t have to travel interstate to get a prescription.

“We shouldn’t have to be paying $180 for a GP visit just to get that authority script done … my psychiatrist’s follow-up appointment from the initial one was $400.”

Because of different legislation on medications in each state and territory, Australians face barriers accessing and travelling with controlled medications.

Tasmanian GP Dr Toby Gardner

“The Poisons Act makes is really difficult if you’ve been prescribed something in Melbourne, you can’t get it filled in Tasmania because all the states have [a] different poisons act,”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Tasmania chair and Newstead Medical owner Dr Toby Gardner said.

“There’s some movement in trying to get some harmonisation of the Poisons Act across the country, because it’s a real barrier for people travelling with S8 medications like stimulants used for ADHD.

“It’s a pretty archaic system and all of the poison acts in each state are quite old.”

Dr Gardner said there were delays in the pharmaceutical service branch (PSB) in Hobart, causing wait times of up to six weeks to get an approved script.

As wait times for ADHD diagnosis blowout, some Australians are turning to illegal drugs.

“Once we get the approval, then GP’s can be the co-prescriber that then prescribes the medication. That prescription lasts for 12 months and then we have to reapply to the branch and sometimes the patient has to get reassessed again,” he said.

“The PSB are receptive to people not having medication, so if it looks like there’s going to be some sort of delay, we can actually call them and talk to a pharmacist.

“For example we can say, ‘there’s going to be a delay in getting a psychiatry review, we can’t get it for another two months, can I get a special circumstances authority to prescribe for the next two months until they can see a psychiatrist’. They are really reasonable and don’t want Tasmanian patients to miss out.”

Dr Gardner said there was already a push for some GPs, who had done special training to be able to initiate and prescribe stimulant medication in certain circumstances.

Originally published as Woman forced to fly to Melbourne to pick up ADHD medication due to states’ differing Poisons Acts