Narcotic Prescriptions

A prescription can be identified as legally authorised written instruction by a prescribing officer to a pharmacist to dispense medication.

* All medication should be recorded and signed for by the receiving pharmacist and a proper record maintained in-house.

There are several types of medication, each has a purpose and function needed for their administration via the different routes.

a.) The Medicine act 1968 -governs the manufacture & supply of medicines. This requires that the local pharmacist or dispensing doctor is responsible for supplying medication. He or she can only do this on the receipt of a prescription from an authorised person eg a doctor.

Non care setting - Medications are often stored and administered in a variety of non-health care settings. These settings include: primary and secondary schools, Child day care centres, Board and care homes, Jails and prisons. In all these settings, employees frequently are responsible for handling and administering prescription and over-the-counter medications to clients or residents. Some organizations may employ licensed health professionals to directly manage the medication administration process. However, many of these settings have no licensed health professionals involved. Where medications are stored and administered to individuals, written policies and procedures should address the following: Acquisition of medications (e.g., from parents, caregivers, pharmacies), Specification of which personnel are allowed access to medications and allowed to administer medications to students, clients or residents, Labelling and packaging of medications managed for students, clients

The nurse must verify the physician’s medication order, including the dose and time, and then the pharmacy is responsible for their own checks and balances via the BCMA system in order to complete the dispensing phase of the medication (Gooder, 2011). The nurse enters the BCMA system with a login and password and is able then to see a list of the virtual due list for a specific patient. The computer on wheels is then taken to that patient’s room and the five rights of medication administration begin. As nurses, we are taught to use the five rights of drug administration are (1) right patient (2) right medication (3) right dose (4) right route and (5) right time. By scanning the barcode on the patient’s hospital identification band, the nurse then asks for the patient to verbally state their name and date of birth, which can be verified by the nurse on the virtual due list and then choses the medication that are due for administration at that time. The medication is dispensed and the nurse is able to scan the barcode on the medication, the scanning triggers the automatic documentation of the medication given (Kelly, 2012).

Provider status is a wonderful idea, pharmacists getting paid for things that they do. However, pharmacists must be allowed

* The National Technical Information Service, Drug Enforcement Agency or Controlled Substance Registration, as confirmation that the doctor is authorized to write prescriptions

There is no question that the alarming rate of deaths related to opioid overdose needs to be addressed in this county, but the way to solve the problem seems to remain a trial and error approach at this point. A patient is injured, undergoes surgery, experiences normal wear and tear on a hip, knee or back and has to live with that pain for the rest of their life or take a narcotic pain medication in order to improve their quality of life and at least be able to move. The above patients are what narcotic pain medications were created for, a population of people that use narcotic pain medications for fun is what is creating a problem. Narcotics are addictive to both populations, however taking the narcotic for euphoric reasons is not the intention of the prescription that the physician is writing. The healthcare system needs to find a way to continue to provide patients that experience chronic pain with the narcotics that work for them while attempting to ensure the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) doesn’t have to worry about a flood of pain pills hitting the streets by granting access to the population with a substance abuse problem.

A pharmacist must check any medication that is administered to a patient. This is the

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) gives certain bodies or individuals such as research scientists, pharmacies, doctors and manufacturers the legal right to access controlled substances.

If convicted for possession without intent to distribute, you face a prison sentence of no more than three years; and a fine no less than $5,000. Possession with intent to distribute is a much heftier penalty. Minimum of 10 years in prison up to a life sentence, and a fine of up to $4,000,000. The penalties for this drug are handled with extreme

Narcotics also known as “opioids” are defined as “a drug or other substance affecting mood or behavior and sold for nonmedical purposes, especially an illegal one” (http://www.foundationsrecoverynetwork.com/what-are-narcotics-and-why-are-they-addictive/ ). Narcotics are also defined as “any drugs that full the senses and commonly become addictive after prolonged use” (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Drugs+and+Narcotics). A narcotic is a type of drug that is prohibited, used in violation of government restriction.

Since states are responsible for providing medical licenses, each state has a slightly different legal definition for the practice of medicine. Sometimes, care that some might deem unauthorized practice of medicine are legal even when performed by unlicensed people

An application in the prescribed form “accompanied by a prescribed format should be made to the licensing authority appointed by the state government for the grant or renewal of a license to sell, stock or exhibit for sale or distribute drugs(87)“.