03 clinical pharmacology activities in pharmacies on the premises of healthcare establishments in Vietnam

According to the Decree No. 131/2020/NĐ-CP of the Vietnam’s Government, clinical pharmacology supervisors or clinical pharmacologists of pharmacies on the premises of healthcare establishments shall carry out clinical pharmacology activities as following:

- Give advice and information of drugs to drug buyers and users:

+ Provide drug use advice, instructions, explanations, information and recommendations for drug buyers or patients; give instructions on how to use drugs and follow prescriptions to drug buyers;

+ Advise patients to visit a doctor specializing in a suitable field for diseases the medications for which require doctor’s diagnosis;

+ Replace a prescribed drug with another drug that has the same active ingredient(s), administration route and dosage with the buyer’s consent and take responsibility for such replacement.

- Advise and discuss with persons prescribing medications in case of an unsuitable prescription:

+ If detecting a prescription with unclear drug name, concentration, content or quantity or a legal or technical wrong or a potential risk to a patient’s health, notify the prescription maker;

+ Give advice and explanations to drug buyers, and hold the right to refuse selling prescription drugs in case of invalid, erroneous or questionable prescriptions or prescriptions collected for non-treatment purpose and notify the prescription makers.

- Participate in drug adverse reactions monitoring:

+ Provide drug buyers and drug users with adequate and accurate information related to known adverse reactions and side effects of purchased drugs;

+ Give instructions on how to handle drug overdose, side effects and adverse reactions to drug buyers and drug users;

+ Monitor and receive information on drug side effects and adverse reactions to submit consolidated reports to the pharmacy department.

More details at the Decree No. 131/2020/NĐ-CP of the Vietnam’s Government, effective from January 01, 2021.

Le Thanh

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