Ran out of medication? What to do in Australia

Ran out of medication: what to do first

Check whether you have a repeat left. Look at the pack and search your SMS or email for the latest eScript token.

1. Contact your usual GP. If you cannot get there today, ask for a telehealth appointment and an electronic prescription sent to your phone or straight to the pharmacy.
2. If that GP is unavailable, ask another prescriber. The same telehealth and eScript step applies.
3. Call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 if you need help deciding how urgent this is. A registered nurse answers 24 hours a day, and in Victoria the line is also known as NURSE-ON-CALL.
4. If a prescription is not practicable in time, ask a community pharmacist what they can supply today. They may need to contact your usual prescriber or pharmacy.

If someone is very unwell, not breathing, or will not wake, call 000 and ask for an ambulance. If 000 does not connect, try 112.

A prescription is the usual legal document for a prescription-only medicine. Authorised prescribers include doctors, dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners and midwife practitioners.

If a dose is already late, follow what to do if you miss a dose. Ask a pharmacist or check the medicine leaflet before taking an extra dose.

Use the eScript you may already have

An eScript is a digital prescription. Your prescriber sends a link by SMS or email, and the link holds a token the pharmacist scans.

1. Check the phone number and email your prescriber holds, so a new token reaches you.
2. Take the token to any pharmacy, or forward it to the pharmacy or to someone you trust who can collect the medicine.
3. For a repeat, use the new token sent after the last supply. Ask the pharmacist to print that repeat if you would rather keep paper.
4. If you deleted the message, ask the prescriber to send the eScript again.

What a pharmacist may supply

Emergency supply and PBS Continued Dispensing have different rules. A pharmacist must check whether either is suitable for your medicine and circumstances. Rules also vary by state and territory.

Victoria has adopted PBS Continued Dispensing for eligible Schedule 4 medicines. The medicine has to fit the PBS list and the state rules.

Emergency supply in Victoria

The pharmacist has to be satisfied of each point:

• The supply is needed so treatment continues.
• You need the medicine now, and a prescription is not practicable in time.
• You have had it on a previous prescription or a chart instruction.
• You, or the person caring for you, know the dose you were given.
• This pharmacist is not extending an emergency supply they already made for you under the same rule.

Bring the empty pack, or the name and strength written down, plus any token still on your phone and your usual prescriber's name.

PBS Continued Dispensing

Eligible medicines are mostly for stable chronic conditions, including asthma and other lung conditions, diabetes, and heart disease. Oral contraceptives and some HIV medicines are included.

• You have an immediate need.
• Your prescriber cannot be contacted, or cannot provide an electronic prescription or an owing prescription.
• You have had this medicine on a PBS prescription, you were supplied it in the last three months, and your condition is stable.
• No pharmacy has supplied this medicine to you under Continued Dispensing in the past 12 months.

You do not need a follow-up prescription for that supply. You need a prescription before another supply of that medicine inside the 12 months.

Medicines that may not qualify

• Schedule 8 medicines (controlled medicines) sit outside Victoria's emergency-supply rule, which is for Schedule 4 medicines.
• Schedule 8 medicines also sit outside PBS Continued Dispensing, with some other medicines that can be misused.
• Continued Dispensing only covers eligible medicines. Ask the pharmacist what options are available for yours.

When to get urgent help

• Call 000 if the person is very unwell, not breathing, will not wake, or is having a seizure. Ask for an ambulance.
• Call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 when you are unsure and it is not that emergency. The line is open all day and night.
• Say if you were told this medicine is risky to miss. Ask for help the same day.

Running out overseas is a separate problem. A PBS supply cannot be posted to you after you leave. See taking medicines across time zones.

Avoid running out next time

1. Count what is left when you open a pack, and again when the strip looks short.
2. Keep the latest repeat token. It arrives by SMS or email after each supply.
3. Set a reminder about a week before the pack will finish, and book the prescriber then.
4. If you take more than two medicines, ask your pharmacist about an Active Script List. You sign up, then a participating pharmacy can see your eScripts with your consent.
5. If several people help, agree who orders the repeat.

A pack past its expiry, or one you were told to stop, goes back to a pharmacy. See how to dispose of expired medicines.

Add how many tablets are left, and turn notifications on. Pillbo can flag a medicine that is running low, or one that is due to expire.

You will still need to arrange the prescription. Pillbo tracks supply and reminders but does not advise on missed doses.

After this supply

1. Book the next prescription before this amount finishes. A 3-day emergency supply covers that short gap, so ask the prescriber for what comes next.
2. Store the new token where you will find it, or register an Active Script List if you would rather keep the tokens in one place.
3. If doses were missed while the pack was empty, read the leaflet before you restart, and ask a pharmacist when it does not say.

Common questions

Related guides

• What to do if you miss a dose of medicine
• How to take your medicines across time zones
• How to manage multiple medicines on one schedule
• How to dispose of expired medicines in Australia