Pills supplied for several months?

Can a pharmacist give several months’ supply of medicine boxes in one go? S.P.

As a general rule it is not possible to be issued more than a month’s supply of medicine at a time, apart from in the case of drugs which are available in three-month formats for certain long-term illnesses.

However an exception can be made when someone is going abroad for more than a month, with provisos concerning certain medicines subject to maximum prescription periods and ones that can only be issued subject to regular health checks.
This is only possible if the patient is likely to have difficulty obtaining the same medicine where they are staying, eg. it is not suitable for a stay in another part of France and it cannot be for more than six months.

To obtain this exception, the doctor has to state their approval on the prescription to a certain quantity of the medicine being supplied in one go due to a foreign trip.

The patient also has to have the agreement of their local health authority (Cpam).

You must apply with a copy of the prescription and an attestation “on your honour” in which you state your full name, address, phone number, social security number, nationality, place where you will be staying abroad, departure date, length of stay and reason for the stay.

If the Cpam agrees it will send a document to be taken to the pharamacist along with the prescription.

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