Selling prescription drugs… without a prescription.

SGGP 05/08/2023 16:09

Ordering medication by phone or going directly to the pharmacy, simply stating the name and dosage, allows users to purchase their desired drugs regardless of whether they require a doctor's prescription. This practice has existed for many years, posing a potential risk to the health and lives of users.

People buy medicine at a pharmacy in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HOANG HUNG

Available when needed.

Having a family member with type 2 diabetes, Ms. Nguyen Khanh frequently buys Mixtard 30 – a diabetes medication that requires a doctor's prescription. Contacting the Long Chau pharmacy system's hotline, Ms. Khanh was instructed to place an order and pick it up at a Long Chau pharmacy on Bui Minh Truc Street (District 8, Ho Chi Minh City). There, she received the medication immediately from the pharmacy staff without being asked for a prescription. Similarly, Ms. Khanh was able to purchase Mixtard 30 at other pharmacies in Ho Chi Minh City without any problems. "Pharmacies even deliver medication to your home without requiring a doctor's prescription," Ms. Khanh stated.

Looking to buy medication for his family members' high blood pressure, Mr. Tran Le Nguyen went to Pharmacity pharmacy on Hoang Hoa Tham Street (Tan Binh District) and easily purchased two types of medication, Prolol Savi 10 and Stadovas 5mg; he also bought antibiotics such as Novofungin 250mg and Flagyl 250mg… without a doctor's prescription.

Circular No. 07/2017/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health clearly stipulates two categories of drugs that can be sold at pharmacies: drugs requiring a doctor's prescription and drugs that can be sold without a prescription. However, in reality, many pharmacies do not comply with this regulation. Recently, the Departments of Health of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have issued fines of 30 million VND to several establishments for violating the regulation by selling drugs without a prescription, specifically those that require a doctor's prescription.

Prescription management using technology.

According to Dr. Phan Quoc Bao, from the Outpatient Department of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Branch 2, medicine is a special commodity that affects human health and life. Therefore, some types of medicine require a doctor's prescription to be sold. However, in reality, many people have the habit of buying the same medicine they have been using for a long time, even if it is a prescription drug. This is very dangerous because after treatment and medication use, patients may develop other illnesses and need to be examined and given a new prescription. Meanwhile, Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Lan Hieu, Director of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Hanoi , pointed out that the practice of drug sellers also acting as doctors is quite common. This is extremely dangerous because any medicine has side effects, even over-the-counter drugs. In addition, the indiscriminate buying and selling of medicine is also a cause of the serious antibiotic resistance problem currently affecting the community.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Health has developed a project and piloted the National Information System for managing prescription and dispensing of prescription drugs to regulate the sale of drugs requiring a doctor's prescription. After dispensing medication to patients, the retail pharmacy's management software sends a report on the quantity sold to the system for record-keeping. When patients visit subsequent retail pharmacies, the pharmacy receives a report on the quantity sold by the previous pharmacy for each prescription from this national database, thus preventing re-selling or over-dispensing. From January 2023 to the present, the number of prescriptions linked to the system is approximately over 40 million. Meanwhile, healthcare facilities nationwide issue around 400-500 million prescriptions annually. Thus, the number of electronic prescriptions updated on the system in the first half of 2023 only accounts for about 20% of the actual number of prescriptions.

To effectively manage prescription and dispensing of prescription drugs, many healthcare professionals believe that stronger measures are needed from state management agencies to ensure that legal regulations are strictly enforced, ending the current situation where prescription drugs are readily available. Experts also advise that strict adherence to regulations on drug sales and purchases is a solution to protect and improve public health and reduce the alarming rate of antibiotic resistance.

According to Article 40 of Decree 176/2013 on administrative penalties in the field of health: the act of selling prescription drugs without a doctor's prescription, if it does not cause serious consequences sufficient to warrant criminal prosecution, will only result in a warning or a fine of 200,000-500,000 VND; if it causes harm to health or death, the pharmacist will be prosecuted for violating regulations on drug sales under Article 315 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ban-thuoc-ke-don-khong-can-don-post700337.html