[Practical and safe prescription of controlled drugs to patients with chronic pain]

The present legal requirements for the prescription of controlled drugs remains an impediment to adequate therapy for chronic pain because of an abundance of legal regulations. The physician prescribing opioids must consider the permitted maximum amount per prescription, the period of time the drug is prescribed for, numerous cross references, and other special regulations, and he still cannot be sure that he does not violate certain legal requirements. Often these difficulties result in withholding necessary pain treatment! In the authors' opinion it should be sufficient to write a specific prescription form for controlled drugs in the same way as any other ordinary prescription without jeopardizing the safety of the drug control system. It is important that the use of the narcotic be justified in the sense of paragraph 13 Abs. 1 of the drug control regulation, as judged by the responsible prescriber of the drug, and that any offence be punished. The use of triplicate prescriptions guarantees sufficient proof. Legislation is requested that will substitute for the present drug control regulations, which are difficult to handle.