To the Editor: Fetene and colleagues1 describe refusal to prescribe or dispense prescriptions to some of their study cohort of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and concern that their mental health treatment needs may not be met due to SafeScript, Victoria’s real time prescription monitoring system. SafeScript is a live electronic database providing information about the prescribing and dispensing of monitored medicines to each patient, instantly available in real time on a prescriber’s or pharmacist’s desktop (https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/safescript).
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- 1. Fetene DL, Higgs P, Nielsen S, et al. The impact of Victoria’s real time prescription monitoring system (SafeScript) on a cohort of people who inject drugs. Med J Aust 2020; 213: 141. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/213/3/impact-victorias-real-time-prescription-monitoring-system-safescript-cohort
- 2. Cerda M, Ponicki WR, Smith N, et al. Measuring relationships between proactive reporting state-level prescription drug monitoring programs and county-level fatal prescription opioid overdoses. Epidemiology 2020; 31: 32–42.
- 3. Puac-Polanco V, Chihuri S, Fink DS, et al. Prescription drug monitoring programs and prescription opioid-related outcomes in the United States. Epidemiol Rev 2020; https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxaa002 [Epub ahead of print].
- 4. Victorian Government Department of Treasury and Finance. 2020/21 State budget papers: budget paper 3 — service delivery. https://www.budget.vic.gov.au/budget-papers (viewed Feb 2021).
I am an employee of the Department of Health, Victoria, where I was involved in the development and implementation of SafeScript (Victoria's real‐time prescription monitoring system), the subject of this letter.