HSE may share patient drug details

PATIENTS taking potent anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills could have their details subtly shared among health professionals in a bid to tackle the abuse of addictive prescription drugs.

The Health Service Executive said it is exploring ways to use so-called “soft information” if there are concerns about patients becoming dependent on some of the most commonly prescribed medicines on the market.

It is seeking a way to ensure people needing drugs in the popular benzodiazephine family are not attending other medics to multiply their prescription.