Doctors may prescribe but not sell dangerous drugs

MANILA, Philippines – Doctors, dentists and veterinarians may prescribe dangerous drugs but they are not allowed to sell them.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency issued the reminder to medical practitioners Tuesday following an incident in Baguio City involving a doctor who allegedly asked her younger sister to “transport for safekeeping” a number of prohibited drugs.

In a statement, PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said only physicians, dentists and veterinarians, with legitimate licenses issued by the PDEA, were authorized to prescribe to patients any drug considered dangerous under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act for legitimate medical purposes.

“However, S2 licenses issued by our Compliance Service do not authorize any [medical] practitioner to dispense dangerous drugs,” Gutierrez said.

The term “dispensation,” he said, refers to the acquisition and selling of the drugs. Gutierrez added that dispensation of dangerous drugs for medical purposes would require a separate permit approved by PDEA.

On June 1, agents of PDEA in the Cordillera Autonomous Region confiscated from a certain Flerida Pel-ey a total of 154 ampules of the dangerous drugs Dormicum, a sedative, and Nubain, an analgesic, in a buy-bust operation conducted inside a mall in Baguio City.

The suspect’s older sister, a doctor, claimed that she authorized Pel-ey to transport for safekeeping the drugs seized from her sister’s possession. “However, based on records maintained by PDEA, the doctor is not authorized to dispense dangerous drugs,” the PDEA said.

Gutierrez said doctors and other allied medical professionals with direct access to dangerous drugs for medical purposes “play a very critical role in ensuring that said drugs are not misused, abused and diverted.”

He advised them to exercise “utmost prudence” in prescribing and administering dangerous drugs.

The PDEA said it continued to conduct regulatory information dissemination activities on regulations issued by the Dangerous Drugs Board relevant to their field of work. In addition, it said it had also undertaken efforts to make it easier for medical professionals to apply for and renew their S2 licenses.

“We recognize that our doctors [and allied medical professionals] have very tight schedules, so we have been facilitating on-site processing of S2 licenses,” Gutierrez said.

“We usually do this in hospitals and other venues where they congregate, particularly during medical summits and conventions,” he added.