Nine pharmacies have been given private prescriptions for the opiate painkiller on an A4 piece of paper, the North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) wrote in a controlled drugs bulletin that was circulated earlier this month.

Some of the prescriptions received by the pharmacies were “identified as fraudulent”, so the NECS urged pharmacies not to supply prescriptions similar to the example it shared in its bulletin, “unless you can confirm it is authentic with the prescriber”.

Read more: MHRA vows to investigate after media probe exposes ‘fake’ online pharmacies

While it has been confirmed that the clinics printed on the prescriptions “are genuine”, the patient details – which the NECS redacted on its bulletin – have been confirmed as false, it wrote.

The suspect presenting pharmacies with the fraudulent scripts “seems to be a pale-looking white male in his early twenties,” the NECS added.

When approached by C+D, a NECS spokesperson said they were unable to comment further as the issue is still being investigated by the police.

 

Enquiries closed in Durham but ongoing in Cleveland

 

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary told C+D earlier this week that it had been alerted in April to an incident where fraudulent dihydrocodeine prescriptions had been presented to a Darlington pharmacy.

“An investigation took place, but officers were unable to identify a suspect and the inquiry was closed,” they added.

Meanwhile, Cleveland police told C+D that its enquiries are “ongoing”.

“We have had a small number of reports of these incidents in the Cleveland area and we’re liaising with local pharmacies,” they added.

 

Advice for pharmacies

 

The NECS suggested that pharmacies should:

• Contact the police if they believe the suspect is in the pharmacy
• Avoid handing the prescription back to the suspect
• Record “a visual description of the suspect and save CCTV footage”
• Report the episode on the Controlled Drug Reporting website

 

“As good practice, if you are presented with any private prescriptions, please contact the prescriber as routine to ensure validity,” the NECS recommended.

Knights Pharmacy superintendent Pete Horrocks – whose pharmacy chain has branches in the affected areas – told C+D that Knights Pharmacy has “informed all our branches and told them to be extra vigilant with any similar looking prescription”.

“Any immediate concerns are to be reported to the police,” he added.