Slovak pharmacies have recorded an increase in forged doctor's prescriptions over the past few months, with most forged medical prescriptions being for tranquillisers and painkillers, according to the daily SME which cites the Slovak Pharmacies’ Chamber and the private health insurer Dôvera.
The daily goes on to observe that though there are no official statistics about the number of false prescriptions, dozens of them may be drafted each year according to health insurance company. One of the latest cases occurred in mid-September at a pharmacy in western Slovakia. “It was a drug used to treat allergies that has pseudoephedrine among its ingredients, which is a drug precursor of methamphetamine”, an employee of the involved pharmacy told the daily. The pharmacist added that the prescription included two packages of the medicine, which was an unusual amount. Having read the prescription, the pharmacist subsequently asked the customer to wait for a second so he could consult the amount of the prescribed drug with the doctor whose name appeared on the document. By the time the chemist returned to the counter, the client was gone. It was later found out that the customers attempted to use a forged stamp with the doctor's details.
Most forged prescriptions are for medicines containing tramadol, a substance to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. Tramadol is reportedly being misused by drug addicts in the Zvolen area (Banská Bystrica region) as a substitute for heroine. Martin Somora of the Banská Bystrica-based Centre for the Treatment of Drug Addictions told the daily that though tramadol isn't as effective as heroine, its effects become similar to heroine when the dosage is increased.
