How long rx good for

This limit, although frustrating, is for your own protection. Any quality medical practice will make sure they book a consultation with you for further evaluation prior to writing out another prescription. Prescriptions can be written to avoid unnecessary trips to the pharmacy and if you have a long term condition which requires a daily program of medication, for instance; high cholesterol, your doctor can write you a prescription for 90 days on each fill.

This results in a prescription for 90 days with 3 refills, which provides you with enough of your medication to last a whole year. Maybe you had an infection 6 months ago, and are now suffering similar symptoms and wondering if your prescription is still valid?

There are many different ways your doctor can prescribe drugs and create a prescription for you. In most doctors have switched over to a secure electronic mail system called Escripts. In some states, all prescriptions are sent this way unless otherwise requested. However, if your specific prescription is a Schedule 1 drug, this requires a hard paper copy prescription.

For the majority of drugs, a physician may refill a prescription without seeing the patient in person, but your doctor must see you first before prescribing any new medication. In the vast majority of cases, prescriptions should be collected by patients or their representatives prior to dispensing as per most practice protocols.

The use of fax machines for routine transmission of information is generally to be discouraged. This is mainly because of inherent legal and patient confidentiality risks.

However, it is acknowledged that in some cases the use of fax machines for transferring prescription information between a healthcare provider , and a pharmacist can be valuable. For example, in an urgent out of hours setting, where issues of time or distance result in unrealistic collections — prior to dispensing taking place. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist to contact the doctor for clarification if they have any questions about the medical correctness or legality of a prescription.

By doing this, pharmacists perform a vital, final check prior to your taking the medication. The law places time limits on prescriptions. Depending on the drug, prescriptions expire after six months or one year from the date the prescription was issued. After the prescription expires, the pharmacist must obtain authorization from the doctor to continue refilling the prescription, even if refills remain on the original prescription.

Pharmacists may dispense only the amount of medication indicated on the prescription. Also, in making the decision to refill a prescription, the pharmacist must consider how long the medication should last based on the directions for use and the quantity dispensed , and may refill it only after an appropriate amount of time has elapsed between refills. However, a pharmacist may dispense up to a 90 day supply of certain drugs pursuant to a valid prescription that specifies the dispensing of a lesser amount followed by periodic refills of that amount if:.

As a practical matter, NO. Once a prescription has left the pharmacy, the pharmacist cannot be sure that the product is still safe. Therefore, in the interest of public safety, state law prohibits the pharmacist from accepting the return of a prescription drug, in whole or in part, and reusing the drug to fill another prescription. Think of the situation this way: Would you want the medication that you purchase from the pharmacy to be medication that someone else had returned?

Yes, under certain conditions a pharmacist may transfer a prescription and the remaining refills to a pharmacist in another pharmacy. However, once transferred, the prescription at the original pharmacy is void and may no longer be refilled there, unless you have the prescription transferred back to the original pharmacy.

Yes, a pharmacist may give you a copy of your prescription. However, a copy of a prescription may be used for informational purposes only. A pharmacist may not dispense a drug from a copy of a prescription. These include morphine, pethidine and methadone. If you have a prescription for a controlled medicine that states it should be dispensed in several instalments, the first instalment must usually be dispensed on the date specified or within 28 days of the date on the prescription.

Read the answers to more questions about NHS services and treatments. Page last reviewed: 20 February Next review due: 20 February Home Common health questions Medicines Back to Medicines.

How long is a prescription valid for? The date on the prescription can be: the date it was signed by the health professional who issued it, or a date that the health professional has indicated the prescription should not be dispensed before If a prescription shows both of these dates, the 6 months starts from the later date.