Reciprocal rules on prescriptions within the EU
Typically, when buying medicines in a pharmacy abroad, you have to pay the full cost up front
Medical prescriptions issued in France are generally recognised within the EU, as prescriptions issued in other EU-countries are in France. Typically, when buying medicines in a pharmacy abroad, you have to pay the full cost up front, and seek reimbursement when you get back home.
If you have a Ceam card – the French version of the Ghic / Ehic – you should show it to the pharmacist when buying medicine. This will ensure you pay the same amount as would a registered national under that country’s social security system.
A French pharmacist may, however, refuse to honour a foreign prescription if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the prescription is forged or that the drug would harm the patient.
In order for a pharmacy to honour a prescription issued by a doctor from another EU country, EU regulations require that the following information be included:
The prescribing doctor’s full name
Their contact information (address, phone, email)
The doctor’s signature
The date
The name (or brand name) of the drug for which the prescription is made or, if not available the name of the active ingredient
The required dosage and format
How to take the drug
Patient details including name and date of birth
As for prescriptions from non-EU/EEA states, including the UK and US, pharmacists may honour them at their discretion if the prescription appears authentic and legible, but they are not obliged to.
A digital system is gradually due to be rolled out Europe-wide allowing exchange of data among pharmacies so patients prescribed medicine in one country may more easily obtain it in another part of the EU.
In France, it should mean equipped pharmacies will be able to access, via a secure network, an electronic version of the person’s prescription in French as well as a summary about the patient from their home country, including allergies, current medications and previous illnesses.
If the French pharmacist prescribes medicine, the system, it is planned, will also inform the system in the patient’s home country.