4 ms·

>Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece is de-facto OTC (you can go to a pharmacy with an A4 blank piece of paper and 'be your own doctor' by writing in what you nee

by jaclaz 4y ago

>Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece is de-facto OTC (you can go to a pharmacy with an A4 blank piece of paper and 'be your own doctor' by writing in what you need by hand and signing it off still as 'your own doctor' with a fantasy name and a cool autograph). Cannot say in the other countries, but in Italy you definitely cannot do that, the pharmacist wants a valid prescription (usually by a known MD, you may have even issues in getting some medicines with a valid prescription signed by a doctor in another city/region). It is the first time that I hear about "invented" prescriptions, though probably making fake ones is not difficult.

JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago
> > Cannot say in the other countries, but in Italy you definitely cannot do that, the pharmacist wants a valid prescription (usually by a known MD, you may have even issues in getting some medicines with a valid prescription signed by a doctor in another city/region). My experience was always that if you begged for something without prescription it was always a no go, as soon as you have a semi-valid piece of white paper with maybe some intestation etc. then you don't even have to beg
- jaclaz 4y ago
  That: >semi-valid piece of white paper with maybe some intestation is more like a fake prescription, and doesn't sound like: >A4 blank piece of paper and 'be your own doctor' by writing in what you need by hand and signing it off still as 'your own doctor' with a fantasy name and a cool autograph It may depend on the specific medicine you needed/wanted, and of course there may be more or less strict pharmacists, but you won't normally get any non-OTC medicines without a proper prescription in Italy.
  - JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago
    > > is more like a fake prescription, and doesn't sound like: So the 'fake' treshold for you would be surpassed by the act of using a PC and a printer, whereas the 'writing what you need and signing off with a cool authograph' doesn't get you over the line? In any event, just semantics compared to what is going on in the US, Germany, The Netherlands and essentially de-facto the same scenario as the UK and the UAE (at least for people who are not extremely poor or unable to use Word.
    - jaclaz 4y ago
      Look, you stated that drugs (such as Viagra) were easily available ("de-facto OTC") in several countries, I can only report the actual situation, to the best of my knowledge, for the country I live in (Italy) which is that without a prescription you won't get it.

by jaclaz 4y ago

JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago

> > Cannot say in the other countries, but in Italy you definitely cannot do that, the pharmacist wants a valid prescription (usually by a known MD, you may have even issues in getting some medicines with a valid prescription signed by a doctor in another city/region). My experience was always that if you begged for something without prescription it was always a no go, as soon as you have a semi-valid piece of white paper with maybe some intestation etc. then you don't even have to beg

jaclaz 4y ago
That: >semi-valid piece of white paper with maybe some intestation is more like a fake prescription, and doesn't sound like: >A4 blank piece of paper and 'be your own doctor' by writing in what you need by hand and signing it off still as 'your own doctor' with a fantasy name and a cool autograph It may depend on the specific medicine you needed/wanted, and of course there may be more or less strict pharmacists, but you won't normally get any non-OTC medicines without a proper prescription in Italy.
- JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago
  > > is more like a fake prescription, and doesn't sound like: So the 'fake' treshold for you would be surpassed by the act of using a PC and a printer, whereas the 'writing what you need and signing off with a cool authograph' doesn't get you over the line? In any event, just semantics compared to what is going on in the US, Germany, The Netherlands and essentially de-facto the same scenario as the UK and the UAE (at least for people who are not extremely poor or unable to use Word.
  - jaclaz 4y ago
    Look, you stated that drugs (such as Viagra) were easily available ("de-facto OTC") in several countries, I can only report the actual situation, to the best of my knowledge, for the country I live in (Italy) which is that without a prescription you won't get it.