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MANILA, Philippines — Patients are again required to present a physical prescription to purchase medication for certain illnesses, including mental health issues, that are considered dangerous drugs, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lifted in July the state of public health emergency due to COVID-19.
In an advisory dated Aug. 3, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) directed physicians, dentists, veterinarians, and other medical practitioners to use the special prescription form in issuing prescriptions for dangerous drugs to their patients. The DDB, an agency under the Office of the President, is the policy-making and strategy-formulating body on drug prevention and control.
“Please be advised that all prescriptions for dangerous drugs from July 21, 2023, and thereafter shall revert to the special prescription form exclusively issued by and obtainable from the Department of Health,” said the advisory signed by DDB chair Secretary Catalino Cuy.
The advisory added Proclamation No. 297 series of 2023 issued by President Marcos categorically stated that all “prior orders, memoranda and issuances that are effective only during the state of public health emergency shall be deemed withdrawn, revoked or canceled and shall no longer be in effect.”
Among those rescinded by the proclamation were DDB’s advisories issued on March 18, May 14, May 15, and July 2 in 2020. These advisories allowed the use of electronic prescriptions for dangerous drugs when the government under then-President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a series of intermittent lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proclamation also revoked the advisory on Feb. 1, 2023, when the DDB extended the use of electronic prescriptions since the state of public health emergency has not been officially lifted despite the end of the state of calamity on Dec. 31, 2022.
Hindrance
Jan (not his real name), a 33-year-old media worker diagnosed with clinical depression, was worried the new policy would hinder him from getting his prescription medicine.
During the pandemic, he only needed to do online consultations with his psychiatrist, who also provided him with a digital prescription.
He would just show the copy saved in his cellular phone to the pharmacist to be able to purchase Xanax pills for his anxiety attacks.
Xanax’s generic name, alprazolam, is among the dangerous drugs listed under Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive and Dangerous Drugs Act.
As a Schedule IV drug, it is currently accepted for medical use in the country and has a low potential for abuse compared with drugs listed in Schedule I, II, and III that may lead to limited physical or psychological dependence.
“But with the return of this policy, this would entail us additional time, energy, and money just to get our medicine,” he told the Inquirer on Saturday.