Remove the regulation 'prescription is only valid for 5 days'

The Ministry of Health has removed the regulation that prescriptions are only valid for 5 days, but still requires patients to receive their medication within this period from the date of prescription.

Medical staff at the pharmacy of Military Hospital 175 dispense medicine to patients.

This change is included in the new Circular on prescriptions and prescriptions of pharmaceuticals and biological products in outpatient treatment , effective from July 1, replacing Circular 52/2017. Experts assess that this move will help reduce the prescription of incorrect or inappropriate drugs for the patient's medical condition. Thereby, protecting people's health and reducing unnecessary treatment costs.

Under the old regulations, a prescription that is more than five days old from the date the doctor wrote it will become invalid. Patients are required to return for a check-up to receive a new prescription that is appropriate for their current health condition. In this revision, the Ministry of Health does not specify the validity period of a prescription; instead, "the prescriber is responsible for advising the patient on the best time to buy the medicine."

However, the Ministry of Health still stipulates that the patient or representative must receive the medicine within a maximum of 5 days from the date of prescription.

"If patients do not use or do not use up all of their addictive drugs, psychotropic drugs, or precursor drugs, they must destroy or return them to the facility that issued or sold them for destruction according to regulations," said a representative of the Ministry, adding that selling, giving, donating, or using these drugs for other purposes is strictly prohibited.

The Circular also sets out clear prescription principles. Doctors can only prescribe after receiving examination and diagnosis results. Prescriptions must be consistent with the diagnosis and severity of the disease, ensuring safety, rationality and effectiveness for the people.

Prescriptions must include complete information about the drug name, concentration or content, quantity, dosage, route of administration, time of use and duration of treatment.

Regarding the prescription period, each prescription is valid for a maximum of 30 days, except for 252 chronic diseases that are allowed to be prescribed for up to three months. Narcotic drugs for the treatment of acute diseases can only be prescribed for a maximum of 7 days. Psychotropic drugs and precursor drugs can be prescribed for a maximum of 10 days. For patients with mental illness or epilepsy, the doctor will decide whether the patient can self-medicate or not.

For cancer patients, prescriptions for narcotic painkillers are specifically regulated. Each prescription is valid for a maximum of 30 days, and must clearly state three consecutive treatment courses, each course not exceeding 10 days, with the start and end dates of each course.

The circular also regulates electronic prescriptions. According to the roadmap, hospitals must implement electronic prescriptions before October 1, 2025, while other medical facilities must complete the process before January 1, 2026.

The Ministry of Health has deployed a national prescription system for transparent management. This system stores complete codes of medical facilities, doctor codes and prescription codes, with the capacity to store about 600 million prescriptions per year.

"The establishment of this system will ensure transparency and safety in drug use and management of doctors' practice," the agency said.

HA (according to VnE)

Source: https://baohaiphongplus.vn/bo-quy-dinh-don-thuoc-chi-co-gia-tri-trong-5-ngay-415449.html