Q. Is it a legal requirement for the patient to sign the back of a prescription for tramadol?

A. Following the Shipman enquiry a change was made to the back of the prescription form to include a patient signature box to acknowledge the receipt of a controlled drug.

It is best practice to ask all individuals collecting a schedule 2 or 3 CD to sign the back of the prescription as confirmation of receipt. It is not a legal requirement for the pharmacy to ask for a signature and it is not a legal requirement for the patient/representative to comply.

Now that tramadol is a schedule 3 CD patients/representatives should be asked to sign the back of the prescription. If an individual does refuse to sign it, the pharmacist should use their discretion as to whether to make the supply or not.

Tariff Tip written by Sue Swift, UK Drug Tariff and Information Technician