Pharmacies in advance began to prohibit Russians from buying simple medicines without a prescription

Pharmacies refuse to sell over-the-counter drugs to visitors. Although innovations that tighten the sale of drugs come into force only on September 1, not everything is so clear today. Why even for simple drugs that have always been sold without problems, now you need to write out a prescription form, the MK columnist found out.

The fact that something is changing in the drug trade and not for the better, I learned by accident. I bought in a pharmacy vitamins in injections from those that cost a penny and are produced in our country, that is, they have never been and never are in short supply. Suddenly, the pharmacist remarked peevishly: this is the last time I am selling, I will not take any more risks.

“What the hell?” – I was indignant.

“Don’t you know, now almost all medicines will be prescription, except for the most elementary ones?”

Do not believe. I looked on the Internet. Yes, this simple drug is now prescription. Moreover, prescription drugs with an exclamation point icon in a triangle turned out to be the majority of those that are always stored in a home first aid kit.

I’m not talking about the narrower ones. Since when?

Turns out, change is coming. Starting September 1, new rules for the sale of prescription drugs will come into effect. Most of all, the changes will affect the so-called “conditionally prescription drugs”, for which no one has previously required a prescription, although formally they seem to be considered as such.

The list is long, it includes literally everything – from drugs for the treatment of heart disease, diabetes, bronchial asthma to antibiotics and contraceptives. And if earlier a pharmacist could ask the buyer for a form from a doctor, or he might not ask – if it was not about strictly controlled drugs, narcotic and psychotropic, now pharmacists are required to transfer prescription details to a digital system for monitoring the movement of drugs. When selling, you will need to enter the date of issue, number and series of the document. In the case of selling a prescription drug without entering a prescription into the system, the pharmacy faces a fine. So it will not work to beg for anything even from the most compassionate pharmacist. The cure just won’t work.

“At the same time, the Ministry of Health seems to be specifically creating difficulties for ordinary citizens in terms of buying completely harmless and highly demanded drugs. A natural question arises: why? Or do officials have nothing to do?” State Duma deputy Nina Ostanina is indignant. She intends to contact the government on this issue in order to clarify the situation.

But it is already clear that if pharmacies suddenly start working strictly according to the new rules, then Russia will face a drug collapse in the coming autumn-winter season.

For prescriptions, people will pour into clinics. It is still summer now, but the flu, coronavirus and colds will come, what should I do? Even those who in the old days would lie down at home on proven means will be forced to stand in lines to see doctors.

And who can’t? Lie down and die?

“We really don’t know how it will work. We have already had a lot of red tape in recent years, at the reception we write more than we examine the patient, and now we will add endless prescriptions for any reason, ”the therapist Tatyana Olegovna, who works in one of the clinics, cannot contain her irritation.

And this despite the fact that when the scandal had just begun, Roszdravnadzor came up with a clarification of the initiative: they say, do not worry, only preferential drugs and subject-quantitative accounting will be entered into the check. Also those ordered online. Although remote shopping is now used by many. And those drugs that are issued according to the prescription form 107-1 / y (most of all drugs that are not included in the lists are prescribed on this form) will not be affected by the changes. But it’s best to keep the recipe with you.

“The management told me: to demand a prescription from everyone, I will demand it,” says pharmacist Olga. – We have a camera in the pharmacy, I don’t need trouble. Now they come with papers from the doctor, with some notes, with something else – and how can I justify myself later if something is wrong? It’s easier to refuse when there is no prescription than to get scolded and fined.”

It is clear that the changes will also affect small businesses. Large pharmacy retailers are adapting, but small pharmacies will lose a lot in revenue. In the regions, too, they do not really understand: what to do with all this? Not all pharmacies have stable Internet, but what if the digital system freezes, do not dispense medicines at all?

Yes, we are given Europe as an example, so that the Russians would be guided by their best practices – this is very convenient when you need to refer to something non-obvious, immediately the West again becomes a model to follow. They say that literally everything is sold in pharmacies by prescription, so a law-abiding patient already understands that he must first appear for an appointment with a specialized specialist, and he will send him to the pharmacy.

Like, everything is for the good of the people. Our citizens are poisoning themselves with self-appointments for nothing, not a single country in the world is being treated independently via the Internet, like the Russians.

But here we must take into account that the state healthcare system of the Russian Federation lacks tens of thousands of specialists, medicine is simply not physically ready for all patients to rush at once for prescriptions, and the population simply does not have money for private clinics.