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Getting more medicine than you need endangers your health and the health of others

What is meant by getting more medicine than you need?

Getting more medicine than you need for the management of your medical condition is a serious problem. It can be dangerous to you, your family, friends and others.

Examples include:

  • Getting a prescription medicine just in case you run out, without actually needing them, and stockpiling them.
  • Getting medicine just to reach the PBS Safety Net–without actually needing them.
  • Self-managing an addiction to prescription medicine.
  • Self-managing unrelieved pain.
  • Selling or swapping your medicine to others.
  • Getting medicine to obtain a ‘high’.
  • Taking or sending medicine overseas for use by others.

How are you and others at risk?

How are you at risk?

When used properly, prescription medicine can help manage a health condition. However, it’s estimated that around 80,000 Australians are hospitalised every year due to adverse reactions to medication.

These reactions are sometimes caused by people taking more medicine than they need through intentional or unintentional overdose, taking the wrong medicine by self-medicating, taking out-of-date medicine which has been stored for a long time, or taking someone else’s medicine.

How are your friends and family at risk?

  • When prescribing medicine your doctor recommends treatment based on your condition and medical history. Sharing your excess or used medicine with others may lead to serious side effects for them.
  • Children are at risk of being poisoned by accessing medicine stored in the home. This risk increases if you have more medicine than you need in your home. Currently 67 per cent of child poisonings in Australia are caused by medicine.

Protecting the PBS for everyone

The Australian Government’s Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) subsidises the cost of around 2500 different types of prescription medicine.

The Australian Government wants to make sure that the PBS remains affordable for everyone. Getting more PBS medicine than you need is abusing the PBS and increases the cost.

What is the Government doing?

  • Medicare Australia administers the PBS for the Australian Government. It is working to identify and reduce the number of people who get more prescription medicine then they need. A Prescription Shopping Information Service has been established as part of this work.
  • If a doctor is concerned about a patient they can call the information service to find out the PBS medicine supplied recently to the patient. Information will only be disclosed about identified patients. Strict privacy guidelines are in place and no medical history details will be given out.
  • PBS information provided by the 24 hour, seven day a week phone service will help doctors make more informed choices when prescribing medicine.
  • Medicare Australia may contact a patient who has been identified as getting more medicine than they need, or contact the patient’s doctor.

What can you do to help?

  • Consider having one doctor manage your medical needs.
  • If you see more than one doctor, tell each doctor what medicine you are taking.
  • Don’t hoard or stockpile medicine–take out-of-date or unused medicine to your pharmacy for safe disposal.
  • Don’t share, trade or sell your medicine.
  • Don’t take or send your medicine to relatives or friends overseas.

For more information on PBS medicine

Phone: 1800 020 613
TTY: 1800 552 152 hearing impaired
TIS: 131 450 translating and interpreting service
Email: pbs@medicareaustralia.gov.auEmail
Internet: Your PBS prescriptions

Last updated: 18 March, 2010