Help from the chemist

Updated : 12/2011

Presenting a prescription abroad

A prescription delivered by a doctor in your country is valid in all EU countries.

However, all medicines sold in the EU must be licensed, and licences are issued by the national authorities of one or more countries. This means that when you present a prescription from your doctor to a pharmacist in another EU country, the prescribed medicine might not be available, or it may bear another name.

Ask your doctor to note the ingredients of the medicine and their dosage – this will help the local chemist to dispense the right medicine.

Sample story

Getting medicine abroad using a prescription from home

Anna from Sweden is going to work in Finland for six months. She is taking prescriptions for her contraceptive pill with her. She can present these prescriptions to chemists in Finland to get the contraceptive pill while abroad.

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Footnote

In this case, the 27 EU member states + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland