UK prescriptions no longer valid in the EU

[Quokka]

A 9-year-old boy with epilepsy won't be able to get his medical cannabis from the Netherlands. The article (link below) includes a letter from the DHSC, saying UK prescriptions are no longer valid in the EU. This may be a blow to those of us who buy T3 from Germany- another letter to my MP I think!

theguardian.com/politics/20...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

This will be a problem for quite a number of people, I'm afraid.

As a full member of the EU, UK prescriptions, NHS and private were recognised throughout the EU - and a few other countries - under the EU cross-border prescription regime. (NHS prescriptions were treated as private.)

This is the EU's webpage - which has no reference to the UK except a link to Brexit information:

Presenting a prescription abroad

europa.eu/youreurope/citize...

And this is their FAQ:

FAQs - Presenting a prescription abroad

europa.eu/youreurope/citize...

As we are no longer members of the EU and EEA, and transition arrangements have ended, I believe UK prescriptions will no longer be recognised by EU and EEA pharmacies. If they are written by a UK doctor, I don't think they will be accepted in the EU or EEA.

I don't think it make any difference whether they are private or NHS.

Indeed, I am not aware of anywhere in the world, other than the UK itself, that would recognise a UK prescription.

Despite the considerable impact of this, I have yet to find any official confirmation and am relying on interpretation of what I have found.

Though prescriptions written in the EEA and Switzerland will continue to be recognised in the UK (subject to some regulations and limitations). Currently I can only find the guidance which would have applied in case of no-deal:

Prescriptions issued in the EEA and Switzerland: guidance for pharmacists

Guidance for pharmacists that will take effect if the UK leaves the EU with no deal.

gov.uk/guidance/prescriptio...

Some medicines might be purchasable without prescription from, or in when visiting, some EU countries. (Medicines which are prescription-only in the UK might not be prescription-only everywhere.)

Other than that, there seems to be no other official way of obtaining prescription-only medicines from EU pharmacies without getting a prescription from an EU or EEA prescriber.

[ITYFIALMCTT]

I see helvella has already replied - there's a small discussion in the thread of this post but it's mostly based on the article you posted here and some offshoots from that:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[jimh111]

Disappointing although not a surprise. Although tied up with Brexit this is a health regulation question. Patients are able to obtain e.g. Cytomel or Armour on a named patient basis. There’s no reason why in the longer term UK patients shouldn’t be able to obtain prescription drugs from trustworthy countries / companies overseas. It just takes the political will and I suspect this was regarded as a low priority issue. I don’t see why the UK or EU should have an objection to reimplementing a similar scheme but I think thyroid patient support group’s would need to work with other support groups to present a united front.

I find it frustrating, why should any country not want to honour a prescription provided they are satisfied it is not a fake. They are mor3 than happy to export drugs to wholesalers. This seems to be an issue that has slipped through the net. The only justification I can think of is we wouldn’t want prescription drugs slipping into the country from sources that are unreliable or wouldn’t insist in proper prescriptions. This is likely to be the result of this change, drugs sourced via the internet.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to jimh111]

In a good arrangement, we in the UK would still be able to use the Yellow Card system to report issues with medicines dispensed in the EU (and, of course, the other way around, whatever the systems are called).

Plus, recall notices, Patient Information Leaflets, Summary of Product Characteristics, and similar would also be distributed mutually.

[Kitten44 in reply to jimh111]

Sadly it has always worked both ways. OS prescriptions (in my experience) are not accepted in the UK.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Kitten44]

Though in my reply above, I pointed out that our no-deal preparations included recognising EU/EEA prescriptions.

[Hypopotamus]

I wrote to my GP last March about this issue. I am still waiting to get an answer from the Department of Health. Don't just raise the topic on forums, write to your MP

[Lora7again in reply to Hypopotamus]

Good luck with that my MP wrote to Matt Hancock on my behalf and I did get a letter last year but it was not very helpful. Hopefully you might get a better reply now we have left the EU.

[Quokka in reply to Hypopotamus]

I think we need to keep hassling them. I wrote to my MP too and got this reply last summer from a Dept of Health minion:

" The Government is not aware of whether pharmacists in Germany will be able to dispense prescriptions written in the UK once the transition period ends.

However, from its perspective, there is no reason why they may not do so, and the

UK will continue to recognise prescriptions written in EU countries within the current rules."

[Hypopotamus]

I'm not holding my breath. The point is if only a few of us write, it isn't a big issue for them, and we will get fobbed off.

[Lora7again in reply to Hypopotamus]

Was that reply to me?

[Lora7again in reply to Hypopotamus]

This is from my thread 11 months ago.

I received a copy of the letter from Caroline Dinenage that she had sent to my MP at the bottom she said this. "I cannot comment on the availability of prescriptions from the European Union"

[Hypopotamus in reply to Lora7again]

Yes, that's a typical reply to an issue that they don't think is serious because not enough of us write to them about it.

[LindaC in reply to Lora7again]

WoW - that must have been a smack in the face! Seems that people, in general, are only concerned when it affects THEM... the me, Me, ME society which we now have no choice other than to live in. Goodness knows what is going to happen to some people!? xox

[Lucycatlover]

I wrote to my MP over a year ago specifically about the reciprocal dispensing arrangements and eventually got a reply from Baroness Blackwood but it was full of the usual platitudes about obtaining a deal on goods and services. It is the recognising of the professional qualification of the doctor and authority to issue the prescription that is the issue. This is, I suspect, more to do with immigration!

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Lucycatlover]

We might have expected that NHS prescriptions, if not private, would automatically imply some level of verification that the prescriber is qualified.

Of course not suggesting that fraud or faking is impossible, but computerised NHS prescriptions do require several steps which are not readily available to ordinary members of the public.