Pressure from patients is a many and varied challenge doctors can face on a daily
basis. A patient has googled their symptoms, for example, and requests a specific
referral that you aren't convinced is clinically necessary or they may request a
particular medication to treat their self-diagnosed ailment.
When it comes to prescribing Schedule 8 medications, the pressure can be acute. From the patient who complains
about travelling out of town to see a pain specialist, to the one who has chronic non-malignant pain, it is
understandably confronting for doctors.
With Schedule 8 and opiate drug prescribing reaching a crisis point, health departments and policymakers are
becoming increasingly interested in doctors' Schedule 8 prescribing practices. Regulators are primed to act against
practitioners who aren't complying with their obligations.
Hannah Shiel
Pressure to prescribe
Investigated doctor tackles town problem
2
Connect | Issue 11 | December 2018
