Resolution 696/2020 of the Ministry of Health of Argentina: modifications in the prescription and dispensation of psychotropic medications or others for the care of chronic and eventually severe pathologies during the sanitary emergency.
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Healthcare & Life Sciences Department Report | Resolution 696/2020 of the Ministry of Health of Argentina: modifications in the prescription and dispensation of psychotropic medications or others for the care of chronic and eventually severe pathologies during the sanitary emergency.
On March 31, 2020 the Ministry of Health of Argentina (Ministerio de Salud de la Nación) issued the Resolution 696/2020, published at the Official Gazette on April 1, 2020 (“Resolution”), by means of which modifications are authorized in the prescription and dispensation of psychotropic medications or others for the care of chronic and eventually severe pathologies during the sanitary emergency in order to avoid the rupture of the mandatory preventive isolation and the conglomeration of patients in the waiting rooms of the hospitals and/or private offices to avoid viral circulation, under the terms of Decree No. 260/2020.
In this regard, we hereby provide you with this executive summary with the most relevant remarks of the Resolution:
• It is exceptionally authorized during the mandatory preventive isolation provided by Decree No. 297/2020 and as long as the quarantine established by said Decree is maintained, the prescription of the psychotropic medicines contemplated in Law No. 19.303, Lists III and IV, or medicines for patients with cancer treatment or patients with treatment for chronic non-transmissible diseases, as well as any other medicine used by prescription, excluding narcotic drugs, in text message format or messages through messaging applications via web, mail or fax.
• The prescription and dispensation procedures will exempt the provisions of Laws No. 17,132 (Performance of Medicine), No. 17,565 (Pharmacy Law) and No. 19.303 (Psychotropic Law) and the ANMAT Provision No. 13.831 / 16 that require the physical prescription and dispensation, as long as they strictly comply with what is specified in the provisions of the Resolution and in Annex I of the Resolution.
• The following are conditions for the prescription of medications in the manner referred to in the Resolution:
a) A photo of the prescription with the letterhead of the healthcare center or of the prescribing professional, handwritten or with a computer print or electronic prescription of the financer that allows identifying the prescribing professional;
b) Comply with the provisions set forth in Law No. 25,649 for the Promotion of the Use of Medicines by their Generic Name;
c) Have a handwritten signature or a digital signature, complying with the requirements set forth in Law No. 25.506 (digital signature), if applicable, and with the letterhead containing the professional’s or financer’s details, allowing the prescriber to be clearly identified;
d) The prescription must count with a stamp with name, surname and registration number of the prescriber, which if it does not appear on the letterhead because it is from an assistance center must be legible. This requirement will govern if it is digitally signed, even if it has letterhead as long as it does not appear as an epigraph in the digital prescription of the financier;
e) The prescription must have later date as of the entry into force of Decree No. 297/2020;
f) The prescription must contain the name, surname and document of the patient to whom it is prescribed;
g) Include in the prescription the legend “EMERGENCY RECIPE COVID -19” (“RECETA DE EMERGENCIA COVID-19”);
h) The units to be prescribed must be limited to those that do not exceed the chronic monthly treatment; and
i) Expressly provide in the prescription that its temporary validity shall not exceed seven days from the day of the prescription for its presentation to the effective dispensation.
• It is exceptionally authorized during the period set forth in this Resolution, the dispensing of medications with prescriptions in the form of messages via web, mail or fax, within the framework of the social, preventive and compulsory isolation provided by Decree No. 297/2020.
• The patient will select the pharmacy to supply the medication; it must be proximate to the place where he is living during the quarantine. The patient or their caregiver must provide the contact details of the pharmaceutical establishment to the prescribing professional.
• The prescribing professionals must enable a book called “Prescribing Book under COVID-19” (“Libro prescriptor bajo COVID-19”), where they will record the data established in Annex I of the Resolution.
• In case the patient has already prescriptions in paper format in his possession, they will remain valid for up to ninety days from the prescription. The prescribing professional may prescribe on paper the medications for the next three months of treatment of the patient, so that he does not attend the clinic.
• The Resolution will enter into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
• The Resolution is applicable in the City of Buenos Aires, and all jurisdictions are invited to adhere to it.
Should you require any further information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.