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You are Here: Home Page > Narcotics Enforcement > Letter to Practitioners about the Expansion of the Official Prescription Program  

Letter to Practitioners about the Expansion of the Official Prescription Program

Dear Practitioner:

Prescription fraud is an increasing problem that drives up healthcare costs and poses a threat to the safety of all New York State citizens. Prescription medications obtained through fraudulent means end up on the street or in the home medicine cabinets of unsuspecting patients.

To combat this serious health care crisis, a new law will dramatically reduce the amount of drugs being diverted from legitimate medical use by preventing alterations, forgeries, and counterfeiting of your prescriptions. The new law takes full effect on April 19, 2006, when all prescriptions written in New York—for both controlled and non-controlled substances—must be issued on an Official Prescription form.

To order and receive your official prescriptions free of charge, all practitioners must first register with the Department of Health by completing and returning the enclosed registration form. To ensure a smooth transition to the new law, practitioners are strongly urged to register as soon as possible and begin using official prescriptions now for all their prescribing.

Registered practitioners are also urged to set up a Health Provider Network (HPN) account and order their official prescriptions online by visiting our web site at: https://commerce.health.state.ny.us/pub/. Ordering Official Prescriptions online is more efficient and allows you to obtain greater quantities than orders placed manually. Through an HPN account, you can also customize your prescriptions to include up to twenty practitioners and up to four different addresses. Exclusively through the HPN account, official prescription paper will be available for practitioners who employ an electronic medical record system to print prescriptions by computer in their offices.

We urge you to promptly register with us using the enclosed registration application so that you can begin receiving your official prescriptions free of charge. A question and answer sheet is also included to inform you about the new law. Should you have any questions regarding the new law, please call our toll-free number at 1-866-772-4683.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping New York State fight prescription fraud.

Sincerely,

Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H.
Commissioner of Health