Legal considerations for prescribing in substance use and addictive behaviours

Real-time prescription monitoring records prescribing and dispensing of drugs with potential for dependence and provides an alert in certain high-risk circumstances, such as prescription from multiple providers, high-risk combinations of drugs or when the opioid dose threshold has been exceeded. It is important to check the real-time prescription monitoring system in the relevant state or territory for details of the patient’s history of prescriptions; see the links in State- and territory-based real-time prescription monitoring systems.

Real-time prescription monitoring does not monitor all drugs, and the range of drugs monitored varies between systems. Communication between prescribers (eg in a collaborative-care model) is important to co-ordinate prescribing and avoid excess or missed supply.

It is also essential to know the relevant state or territory permit requirements to prescribe any Schedule 8 drugs to a person with substance dependence. Specific requirements apply for prescribing medication-assisted treatment of opioid dependence; each state and territory has different legislation guiding this.