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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Americans abuse prescription drugs more than cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogens combined, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Video Is Available to help Pharmacists spot red flags

PHOENIX(BUSINESS WIRE) The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and the Anti-Diversion Industry Working Group (ADIWG), a consortium of pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, have released an educational video for pharmacists to help them identify the warning signs of prescription drug abuse and diversion when dispensing controlled substance prescriptions. The video, entitled, Red Flags, was released at the NABP 110th Annual Meeting, held in Phoenix, AZ, May 17-20, 2014.
Americans abuse prescription drugs more than cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogens combined, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Red Flags encourages pharmacists to help combat this national problem by exercising their professional judgment to ensure the prescriptions they dispense were written for a legitimate medical purpose, and to act upon any unusual behavior they observe.
Prescription drug abuse is a complex issue and, as one of the last lines of defense, pharmacists have a corresponding responsibility to recognize common red flags and establish a prescription's validity to curb this abuse, said NABP President Joseph L. Adams, RPh. We appreciate the support of the ADIWG in providing pharmacists with this important informational video to help prevent the misuse and diversion of opioids and other prescription drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and various state pharmacy boards have described red flags as circumstances surrounding the presentation of a controlled substance prescription that should raise reasonable suspicion about the validity of that prescription. The video highlights a number of these potential warning signs, some which are not easy to spot, by weaving personal narratives with interactions between pharmacists and customers.
Red Flags is sponsored by six ADIWG member companies - the group's founder, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, along with members, Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen, Actavis and Endo-Qualitest Pharmaceuticals - as part of the group's commitment to reduce prescription drug diversion and abuse. This is the first educational tool produced by the ADIWG as it continues its collaborative effort to help combat America's fastest growing drug problem.
The abuse of prescription pain medicine is a serious and complex problem that requires strong partnerships, broad collaboration, and innovative approaches to combat it, said Donald Lohman, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, This video is exactly the kind of project we envisioned when Mallinckrodt convened the ADIWG last August. As an essential partner in tackling prescription drug abuse and addiction, pharmacists were a natural target for the ADIWG to reach with this initiative.
Prescription drug abuse knows no boundaries, adversely affecting every race, gender and age group, said Robert Giacalone, Cardinal Health, The ADIWG is proud to collaborate with the NABP to bring attention to this growing problem and enlist the nation's pharmacists in our determination to address this abuse.
The video is available in the Pharmacists section of NABP's prescription drug safety website at www.AWARErx.org/pharmacists.
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