The Ministry of Health is reducing the emergency dose of antibiotics, which can be dispensed in pharmacies without a prescription, from 72 hours to 48 hours. The order, recently published in the Official Gazette, provides that pharmacies can dispense antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription in a dose covering 72 hours. A few days later, the Ministry of Health changed its mind and decided that pharmacies can issue an emergency dose for 48 hours without a prescription.

The Ministry of Health reported today that “in view of the information that appeared in the open space regarding the order of the Minister of Health, which regulates the procedure for prescribing, dispensing and monitoring antibiotics in order to reduce their excessive consumption, we provide the following clarifications:

• The order of the Minister of Health regulates the minimum amount of information that the prescription must contain, and does not establish any special sample form. Antibiotics will be dispensed according to the prescription, which is kept in the pharmacy;

• Only in emergency situations, certain antibiotics, covering the dose for 48 hours, can be issued without a prescription, based on a declaration of self-responsibility. Antibiotics for children (syrup, pediatric forms in solution) will be dispensed by the pharmacy in the smallest available packaging, which will be able to cover the necessary emergency dose.

• In order to limit the supply of antibiotics without a prescription, the Ministry of Health has shortened the period of emergency care from 72 to 48 hours. The release of an emergency dose should be accompanied by the patient’s subsequent visit to the doctor for consultation and obtaining a prescription adapted to his condition.”

Until now, antibiotics could be dispensed in a pharmacy only with a doctor’s prescription.

Antibiotic use increases during the cold season, and Romania ranks third in Europe for antimicrobial resistance, Andrej Bacu, former president of the National Health Insurance Company, said last fall that 4.2 million Romanians had a reimbursed or free prescription last year. for antibiotic treatment.

“And my advice is simple: don’t take antibiotics unless your doctor recommends it. And this doctor should not be Dr. Google!” said the former president of CNAS.

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