Registrants are reminded to submit a forgery report to ACP if a forged prescription is identified in your pharmacy. Whether or not the forgery attempt is successful, this information is valuable to share. When reports are submitted, ACP compiles them and sends an email to registrants across the province. This process
- promotes awareness about recent prescription forgery attempts and forgery tactics;
- helps prevent diversion of drugs; maintaining the integrity of the drug distribution system; and
- helps create a listing of forgery attempts for the calendar year, so that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have another tool to aid them in forgery detection.
When submitting a report, providing a detailed account of the forgery attempt is important, as these details provide key information that other pharmacy teams can use to identify similar attempts. To report a forgery to ACP, fill out the details via a simple online form.
In addition to reporting to ACP, registrants are also reminded that forgeries for controlled substances or precursors must also be reported to law enforcement. If a theft, loss, or forgery occurs it must be reported to the local police immediately and to the Office of Controlled Substances no later than 10 working days after its discovery. To learn more, visit the Health Canada webpage. To report a forged prescription for a controlled substance that has been dispensed to an individual, either fully or partially, to Health Canada, please visit the Health Canada webpage on loss, theft, and forgery. To report a forgery to the Office of Controlled Substances, click here.
Forgeries that are not dispensed to an individual do not need to be reported to Health Canada, but may be reported to police.
For more information, visit ACP’s forgeries page.
*This article was amended on June 17, 2022, to clarify reporting responsibilities to Health Canada.
