Prescribing medicines by your hand, without going through the doctor, is illegal but increasingly widespread, to the point that there is a flourishing clandestine market that uses the theft of stamps and headed paper, or the use of Photoshop. The authors of this article have also succeeded easily. A serious problem, with a remedy
“We inform you that a report concerning a counterfeit medical prescription of Durogesic has been received at our structures”. We are talking about a drug containing Fenanyl, an analgesic that in the United States is a real emergency. The note, sent to all ASL on May 29, continues: «At the municipal pharmacy n.1 of Pistoia were presented by Mr. SS n. 2 apocrife recipes of which the first dated 15/5/2025 and the other 25/5/2025, both headed to Dr. Gatti Ruggero, psychiatrist. The doctor, contacted by the pharmacy, confirmed the non -authenticity of the prescriptions ».
It might seem an isolated case, but the norm is (almost). Only the day before came another communication (the alarm was born from the pharmacist who finds discrepancies in the recipes and is required to report it to the police), and this was also related to the “counterfeiting of recipes reported by Pharmacies of Pavia” and concerning “the prescription of the Depalgos drug”. In practice, oxycodone. Another medical substance used alarmingly instead of drugs. A few days before, again, another case reported by the ASL: “We inform you that we received a report relating to three falsified medical recipes including two recipes relating to the prescription of the medicinal specialty” Rivotril “and a recipe for the medicinal specialty” Xanax “”. And again: “We inform you that a report concerning a counterfeit medical prescription of Xanax has been received at our structures”. In particular, this note continued, “at a central pharmacy in Florence a false recipe was presented to Dr. Ferdinando Artese, who had denounced, in September 2023, the theft of a recipe book and two stamps”.
Yes, because the mechanism is exactly this: More and more frequently there are thefts of cookbooks and medical stamps, then used for the prescription of drugs in a completely illegitimate way. Especially psychotropic drugs used as “new drug”, especially in light of the most accessible costs compared to the “classic” drugs and the certainty of the type of effect.
By now the reports of “theft” or “loss” are practically dailyas Andrea Mandelli, president of Fofi (Federation Federation of Italian pharmacists) confirms: «Unfortunately, due to a series of situations related to organized crime, illegal trafficking and drug dealing, we are receiving more and more reports regarding falsified medical recipes. Let’s talk about a phenomenon that deserves our maximum attention. The thefts are increasing and are symptomatic of a worrying situation in the area: there is a growing demand for certain drugs that feeds this illegal market, which also finds its size online “.
The most sought after drugs are Rivotril – an antiepileptic of the class of nitrobenzodiazepine – and Lyrica, another antiepileptic often consumed for the treatment of painwhich in recent years has also represented a criticality for its growing diffusion in prisons, in particular among young adults and foreign minors.
Among the legal opioids, oxyContin, the oxycodon, worries, capable of producing reactions similar to heroin. The use of this drug has also been intercepted in the “drug woods” that collect the deepest discomfort. To explain what the Vulnus is is the Sienese doctor Luigi Bellagamba, who has repeatedly been the victim of theft of recipe books and medical stamp: “Everything revolves around the use of the white recipe for the prescription of the benzodiazepines”. We are talking about the paper medical prescription, not to be paid by the National Health Service (SSN), used for bands C, non -refundable drugs. It is completed by the doctor on his personal recipe book and allows the patient to buy the medicine in the pharmacy, paying him on his own. Everyone happened to have this type of recipe in your hands: a normal sheet of paper, written in Penna, with stamp and signing of the doctor.
And that’s why a real racket of thefts of stamps and recipe books was created: recipes: Once in possession of these two objects, prescribing any type of drug is a kids game. Also because in the meantime the market evolves: next to the “do it yourself” prescription after stealing the need, there are also those who prefer to rely on the computer with graphic retouching software until the recipes indistinguishable from the real ones appear.
But is it really that easy? To verify it, we tried firsthand, creating a recipe in a domestic way with which to get the very popular psychotropic drugs. We took a white recipe of another drug that had been prescribed, we photographed it by covering the central transcription, then we artifact the prescription keeping only the stamp and signature of the original. Armed with pen, we prescribed a Rivotril box (cost: just over 2 euros), and we turned to various pharmacies. Of Florence, Naples and Rome. Nobody noticed anything. Everyone would have quietly sold the drug if we then, with an excuse, had not gone away by giving up illegal purchase. On the other hand, the only way has the pharmacist to notice the counterfeiting would have been recognized that the signature was not original but photocopied. A little complicated, since the exercises are often crowded with customers not to wait.
The question then arises spontaneously: how to curb a phenomenon that appears rampant and above all uncontrollable? The solution, in reality, is there. The point is that it is not implemented by everyone. We should make sure that drugs as delicate such as benzodiazepines are prescribed only with electronic recipes that, as Mandelli explains, “offer a greater level of security, being more difficult to falsifiable”.
“The solution” also underlines Filippo Anelli, president of the Order of Medici “lies in the implementation of a fully computerized prescription system, which guarantees the identifiability and traceability of the prescriber doctor. Only through complete and safe information can strengthen the defenses against fraud and protect public health. ” A practice, however, today not widespread in all ASL. Despite the requirements by law. A real vulnus that feeds the illegal market of drugs used as drugs.
