Internal Trade Department upbeat drug stores ready to sell prescribed meds

[webfact]

Internal Trade Department upbeat drug stores ready to sell prescribed meds

By The Nation

 

 

The Internal Trade Department has expressed confidence that most drug stores across the country are ready to sell medication prescribed by doctors as a measure to deal with the high prices of medical care at private hospitals.

 

Prayote Phensut, deputy director general of the department, was speaking after his consultation with the dean of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Pharmacy on Wednesday, who is a member of the Pharmaceutical Association of Thailand.

 

Prayote said he was confident of the readiness of drug stores after talking with the dean, who told him that most of the country’s 10,000 drug stores were up to general pharmacy practice (GPP) standard and could thus sell drugs to patients with prescriptions from private hospitals.

 

He said he was assured that all drug stores around the country would be up to the GPP standard within two or three years.

 

Private hospitals claim that the bills for their medical services are high because of high prices of drugs, prompting the government to come up with a measure to force the hospitals to allow patients to opt out and buy their medication outside. The hospitals have retaliated, arguing that drug stores are not up to the GPP standard.

 

“A lot of pharmacists have graduated and the certified pharmacists have a good knowledge of medicine,” Prayote said.

 

“The public can therefore rest assured that drug stores where patients will buy medications with prescriptions from private hospitals are reliable and exist in sufficient number to serve them. 

 

The pharmaceutical association told Prayote that that while the private hospitals’ claim about drug stores not being ready to take prescription drug orders might have been true 20 or 30 years ago, it wasn’t the case today.

 

He added that private hospitals had a deadline of midnight Wednesday to submit their price list of drugs to the Internal Trade Department.

 

The department would compile QR codes of all medicines given out by private hospitals that must be put up on boards for patients to see by August 15. Each QR code would allow patients to compare prices of medications at all private hospitals.

 

Prayote added that the department would investigate if certain hospitals charge were found to be charging too much for a drug without a proper reason for doing so.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30374032

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-01

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[bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

Prayote added that the department would investigate if certain hospitals charge were found to be charging too much for a drug without a proper reason for doing so.

So already the hospitals have been given an option to get around the ruling.

[Phuketshrew]

I think someone needs to tell them that most drug stores already sell prescription drugs. I usually self diagnose and can readily buy "prescription" drugs such as Augmentin at the drug store - and it's much cheaper than the hospitals charge.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, Phuketshrew said:

I think someone needs to tell them that most drug stores already sell prescription drugs. I usually self diagnose and can readily buy "prescription" drugs such as Augmentin at the drug store - and it's much cheaper than the hospitals charge.

 

This whole report is a bit fuzzy....

 

1. I've never seen an actual written prescription for medicines issued by any private hospital in Thailand that a patient could take to an outside pharmacy. All they do, all they've ever done AFAIK, is transmit the order for medicines in their internal system to their own hospital pharmacy.  I've asked before, knowing I was going to buy medicines outside, and the doctors don't even have a prescription pad to write on...  I always have to ask, get the details verbally, and write down the drug info details myself. Is that going to change?

 

2. The issue with outside pharmacies has long been that they, at least in the past, have not been allowed to stock and sell certain drugs that only could be stocked and sold by hospital pharmacies. It wouldn't matter if you had a "prescription" or not from a hospital doctor. The private pharmacy simply wouldn't have those kinds of drugs available.   Is that going to change? 

Edited August 1, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ThomasThBKK]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

This whole report is a bit fuzzy....

 

1. I've never seen an actual written prescription for medicines issued by any private hospital in Thailand that a patient could take to an outside pharmacy. All they do, all they've ever done AFAIK, is transmit the order for medicines in their internal system to their own hospital pharmacy.  I've asked before, knowing I was going to buy medicines outside, and the doctors don't even have a prescription pad to write on...  I always have to ask, get the details verbally, and write down the drug info details myself. Is that going to change?

 

2. The issue with outside pharmacies has long been that they, at least in the past, have not been allowed to stock and sell certain drugs that only could be stocked and sold by hospital pharmacies. It wouldn't matter if you had a "prescription" or not from a hospital doctor. The private pharmacy simply wouldn't have those kinds of drugs available.   Is that going to change? 

In the smaller cities they have normal house doctors, eye specialists, dentists like in the EU too, they prescribe you drugs and don't run their own pharmacy.

Only hospitals have pharmarcies afaik, but u wont get anything fancy in drugstores, just he usual pain killers and co

[Isaanbiker]

“A lot of pharmacists have graduated and the certified pharmacists have a good knowledge of medicine,” Prayote said.

 

" A lot mechanics have graduated at the technical college and the certified mechanics know nothing about anything", I'm adding.

 

   My son studied three years electronics, but couldn't switch a light bulb.

 

   Theory and practice differ a bit here. 

 

[gamini]

I needed some ambien sleeping tablets . Bangkok Hospital charged me 80bt per tablet plus Dr fee. Rama government hospital in Bangkok charged me 3 bt per tablet.