Prescription monitoring legislation to be delayed until May
The Barr government has postponed the introduction of legislation to create a prescription monitoring scheme in the ACT .
Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris was due to introduce a bill to enable the tracking of the prescription of drugs across Canberra on Tuesday.
Paul Fennessy died of an overdose of prescription medication in 2010.
Photo: Rohan ThomsonBut the government decided to pull the legislation at the last minute.
It's understood the bill has gone back to the ACT Health Directorate to iron out issues with how the system would operate.
"Due to discussions last night and this morning it was decided to postpone the introduction of the prescription monitoring legislation to ensure the legislation is as up-to-date as possible," a spokeswoman for the minister said.
"Due to COAG Health Council, Minister Fitzharris won’t be able to introduce it this week, so it will likely be introduced in May. This will not in any way delay the implementation of the scheme in March 2019."
Paul Fennessy's death was the subject of the Canberra Times' podcast Losing Paul.
She said Ms Fitzharris would discuss the potential for a national prescription monitoring scheme at COAG Health Council on Friday, and would use that opportunity to see if the ACT's legislation could be further strengthened.
A real-time prescription drug monitoring scheme was one of two recommendations made after a coronial inquiry into the death of 21-year-old Canberra man Paul Fennessy.
Mr Fennessy, whose fatal overdose of prescription drugs in January 2010 was the subject of The Canberra Times' podcast Losing Paul, was an experienced doctor-shopper.
In the three years before his death, Mr Fennessy had obtained and filled more than 150 prescriptions from 18 doctors across Canberra.
A post mortem showed not one of the seven drugs present in his body was illegal, but rather a toxic combination of opioids, anti-psychotics and anti-depressants.
In the wake of the coroner's recommendations, the ACT government set aside $739,000 for a scheme and promised it would be operational by March 2019.
On Monday, the spokeswoman for the minister told Fairfax Media the use of the DORA software would not be mandatory, but help health professionals "make safe and appropriate clinical decisions, not to impose additional regulations and penalties".
DORA is an expansion of the existing Drugs and Poisons Information System , or DAPIS, software and will be run by the same provider.
It's mandatory for dispensers to report to DAPIS on their dispensing of controlled medicines, and prescribers are required to seek approval for prescribing of controlled medicines.
"In Tasmania, the use of DORA has been linked to a reduction of opioid-related deaths, from 33 deaths in 2007, to 15 deaths in 2013," she said.
Listen to the full Losing Paul podcast series here.