Russians with fake prescriptions attacked pharmacies

This is how people reacted to the tightening of the prescription of drugs

A piece of paper with the name of the drug without a date, the signature and seal of the doctor is what patients most often come to the pharmacy with today. This is how the Russians reacted to the tightening of prescription drugs. Pharmacy workers have begun sharing messages in professional chats that the number of people who are stocking fake prescriptions has begun to rise. The situation is complicated by the fact that today it is impossible to verify the authenticity of the recipe, as they say, without leaving the cash register.

The fact that people with fake prescriptions began to come to pharmacies en masse is reported from different regions of the country. Some carry a photo of a prescription, for example, for an antibiotic or pain reliever; others show a piece of paper with a doctor’s seal (you can buy any seal and make it yourself). A prescription on a special form has long been a rarity. “The pharmacy community has raised this issue more than once, because an illegible prescription on a scrap is not a prescription, and for dispensing without a prescription, a pharmacy faces a fine and even suspension of the license. Over-the-counter prescription drugs have never been legal. About 70% of the entire pharmacy range falls under prescription. And these are not only psychotropic and narcotic drugs, but also all antibiotics, hormonal drugs, potent painkillers, antipyretics, cardiovascular and other drugs, ”says Victoria Presnyakova, director of the SRO Association of Independent Pharmacies, head of the Alliance of Pharmaceutical Associations.

But there are categories of drugs that are subject to subject-quantitative accounting (PKU) – prescriptions for them must be withdrawn and stored in pharmacies. The news is that even such ones began to be faked. As the head of the federal network of pharmacies on condition of anonymity told MK, such situations arise daily.

As Taisiya Kubrina, a lawyer in the pharmaceuticals and healthcare practice, told MK, there are several types of prescription forms. The simplest ones are in the form No. 107-1 / y, which do not require protective details. They dispense the vast majority of prescription drugs. “But there are also forms to be accounted for: these have numbering, they are ordered and printed in printing houses. The most protected category is prescription forms of strict reporting on narcotic drugs: these have degrees of protection, and the forms are issued strictly under the report by responsible persons in hospitals, ”the expert says.

According to Kubrina, if a pharmacy dispenses prescription drugs on the basis of “doctor’s prescriptions,” which the latter writes on a piece of paper, she, of course, is in violation: “This problem has long been condemned at all levels. Pharmacies are faced with the fact that health workers do not write prescriptions, but write prescriptions on paper, but they dispense drugs to patients, feeling their social responsibility. But this is a punishable action, and if such a vacation is detected, a pharmacy and a pharmaceutical worker can be held administratively liable. However, most often a fake can be fixed in relation to strict reporting forms (No. 148-1 / y-88) and the so-called. a special form for narcotic drugs (No. 107 / u-NP). These forms remain in pharmacies, so inspections sometimes reveal violations. If earlier pharmacies worked closely with medical organizations and could verify the authenticity of a prescription, now it is difficult to do this due to the lack of high-quality communication.”

In addition, as one expert of the pharmacy market told MK, at the end of 2021 a new decree was issued on the preparation of prescription forms, from which for some reason the phrase that strict reporting forms should be printed centrally disappeared.

Meanwhile, recalls Victoria Presnyakova, the sale of prescription drugs without a prescription is a gross violation, the punishment for it can be fines for a legal entity up to 200 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for up to 90 days. But there is no responsibility of doctors for improper preparation of a prescription or refusal to write out the prescribed prescription on a special form. And this is not a problem of a separate region, but of an all-Russian scale. “Perhaps the introduction of electronic prescriptions across the country will change the situation in the future. Well, today we need to restore the lost interprofessional interaction between doctors and pharmacists, conduct training and reduce barriers, ”the expert believes.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28966 dated February 7, 2023

Newspaper headline:
What the doctor didn’t write