Prescription Blanks for Narcotics

To the Editor.— Dr. Karakashian's comments on physician's narcotic prescription blanks (226:1572, 1973) bring to mind a system allowing the institutional control of prescription blanks for schedule II drugs only, implemented at the University of Kentucky hospital. Under the system, to each legally eligible physician wishing to prescribe schedule II drugs is issued (by the pharmacy department) a pad of 25 consecutively numbered prescription blanks. Records are kept on a control card in the pharmacy. The physician writes all prescriptions for schedule II drugs on the assigned blanks. It is the responsibility of the physician to report to the pharmacy any lost blanks. In addition, all of the hospital's routine prescription blanks distributed throughout the hospital bear the following statement, "Caution— This prescription is invalid if used for schedule II controlled drugs." All pharmacies in the central Kentucky area have been informed of this system and have been most cooperative