Thousands of doctors have received “intimidating and insulting” compliance letters for allegedly not checking script-monitoring software before prescribing drugs of addiction, AMA Queensland says.

The letters relate to QScript, which sends doctors an alert if they are about to prescribe S8 drugs or high-risk S4 drugs, such as benzodiazepines, to patients who already have a script for them.   

Queensland laws say doctors can be fined up to $2757 for failing to check QScript when obligated, although the letter is labelled “for educational purposes” and stresses “no regulatory action is being taken”.

It tells doctors: “During the review period, from 1 January 2023 to 31 January 2023 (inclusive), it was identified that you did not check QScript on one or more occasions when you were required to do so.”