Frauds with false prescriptions are constantly increasing

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Fractured car, stolen bag: this is what happened to Doctor Miller in February 2024 in the parking lot of his cabinet. “”There was my classic doctor equipment with all our instruments, but it was mainly to recover the prescriptions, especially Secure prescriptions And my stamp, which allows you to get bought almost anything in pharmacy“, He describes.

He files a complaint, but the evil is done. A few days ago, health insurance alerts it: a prescription for his name is presented in a pharmacy in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), while it exercises almost 200 km away, near Reims (Marne). “”It is pregabalin. It is a painkiller who is also prescribed in epilepsy. And they make it a diverted use to take drugs. The quantities requested are not suitable for therapeutic treatment “Analysis the doctor.

His case is far from isolated. The fraud to the prescription exploded in France: 85 doctors declared a similar incident in 2023, 306 in 2024. Illegal documents very easy to obtain in a few clicks on social networks. France Télévisions did the test for opioids. “”Hello, possible to have a prescription for tramadol?“Asks a journalist. Answer: “Yes, it costs 50 euros, available in less than an hour. It is 100%sure. It is a real prescription.”

Against this scourge, health insurance encourages pharmacists and doctors in vigilance and to generalize the digital prescription. “”It is established on software by a doctor, and it arrives on a secure platform. So me, when I receive the patient’s prescription, I have a small code that I scan. It is infalsifiable, since there is no handwriting“, explain Yorick Berger, pharmacist and spokesperson for the French pharmacists’ federation.

This massive fraud is expensive to social security. “Prescription fraud feeds real trafficking in drugs, sometimes international, which has a major financial impact for health insurance. We are talking about just over 13 million euros in 2024, it is 10% more than in 2023”, noted Marc Scholler, the CNAM financial director.

In the event of fraud to the prescription, the counterfeiter faces up to 375,000 euros fine and five years in prison.