News / E-Bulletin
An extension of the validity of prescriptions in terms of an amendment to the Medicines and Related Substances Act No. 101 of 1965
May 4,2020
by Neil Kirby, Director and Head of the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice and Zamathiyane Mthiyane, Senior Associate
On 30 April 2020 the
Minister of Health published, in GNR481, a notice excluding Schedule 2, 3 and 4
Substances (“the Scheduled Substances”) from certain provisions of
the Medicines and Related Substances Act No. 101 of 1965, as amended (“the
Medicines Act”) (“the Notice”).
The effect of the
Notice on the Scheduled Substances is as follows:
- prescriptions for the Scheduled
Substances, which were previously valid only for three months, are now valid
for six months. Thus, pharmacists must have the requisite Scheduled Substances to
fulfil potential demand;
- consequently, patients do not
need to consult with a healthcare practitioner, within the timeframes during
which the prescriptions remain valid, for purposes of obtaining a new
prescription. Consultations with healthcare practitioners for purposes of issuing
new prescriptions are also held to enable the healthcare practitioner to, inter alia, determine whether or not
patients are responding the Scheduled Substances prescribed and, if not, change
the dosage of the Scheduled Substances or the Scheduled Substance in totality.
No provision has been made for healthcare practitioners to perform the
aforementioned duty in the Notice;
- however, the Scheduled
Substances may not be dispensed for a period longer than twelve months from the
date of the issue of the initial prescription;
- in instances where a
prescription was issued six months before the date of Notice, repeat
prescriptions may be issued for a period of only of a further six months;
- the Notice is silent on the payment
of the Scheduled Substances by medical schemes in terms of the Medical Schemes
Act No. 131 of 1998 and the respective medical schemes’ rules and managed care
protocols, taking into account that currently repeat prescriptions for Schedule
Substances are currently available on a three month basis; and
- the Notice applies only until
November 2021 at which time the exemption provided in terms of the Notice
lapses and the provisions of the Medicines Act, once again, apply. The Notice
does not deal with practical issues such as how the aforementioned provision
will practically work in the event that the extended period of the prescription
has not expired as at November 2021 in so far as only half the prescription has
been dispensed.
A copy of the Notice can be found here.