ABU DHABI // Pharmacists are being urged to be on the lookout for drug prescription forms reported missing from a healthcare facility.
Health Authority Abu Dhabi (Haad) said there were 15 forms missing. It did not say which hospital or clinic had lost the forms. The blank notes, with the serial numbers 1920686 to 1920700, are specifically for controlled drugs.
There are dozens of controlled drugs in the emirate, from diazepam (Valium), a drug used for the short-term relief of anxiety disorders, to Risperidone, which is used to treat schizophrenia and symptoms of bipolar disorder.
The alert from Haad urged medical workers to revisit their records from May 10.
It issued a circular asking all facilities to notify a Haad narcotics officer if they have already dispensed the missing prescriptions, or if the forms were presented at a pharmacy.
Haad said it had also been alerted to another missing item from a different healthcare facility in Abu Dhabi – a lost stamp carrying the name “Dr Wajahat-Ur-Razzaq Chaudhry”. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the stamp is asked to notify the authority.
Circulars alerting pharmacies to stolen or missing prescriptions are issued a few times each year. Anyone with information should contact 02 419 3648 or 03 704 1153.
jbell@thenational.ae
