From a long and incredibly tedious list of code and ethics for pharmacists
"If the prescribers signature is not known, the prescriber must be contacted and asked to confirm that the prescription is
genuine. The prescriber's telephone number must be obtained from the telephone directory, or from directory enquiries, not
from the headed notepaper, as forgers may use false letter headings.
A list of matters which should alert a pharmacist and cause him to check further is given below. The list cannot be
exhaustive.
(1) Unknown prescriber
(2) New patient
(3) Excessive quantities
(4) Uncharacteristic prescribing or method of writing prescription by a known doctor
(5) Letter heading compiled using Letraset or similar methods
(6) Dr before or after prescriber's signature
Basic requirements for writing scripts are given in the BNF
" Prescriptions(1) should be written legibly in ink or otherwise so as to be indelible(2), should be dated, should state the
full name and address of the patient, and should be signed in ink by the prescriber(3). The age and the date of birth of the
patient should preferably be stated, and it is a legal requirement in the case of prescription-only medicines to state the
age for children under 12 years."
Jeff
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