Abou Faour Says Unified Prescription Form Cannot be Forged, NSSF Refuses to Compensate People

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour stressed on Wednesday that the signature of the doctor cannot be forged on any unified prescription form as there are three copies of it, despite claims by the Order of Physicians that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) isn't abiding by the ministry's decision.

“The health ministry examines generic drugs to make sure they apply to the adopted standards,” Abou Faour said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

He described the medication campaign as the battle of citizens and the state's treasury.

The Parliament endorsed a draft-law in 2010 to monitor the selling of medication by pharmacists to patients to prove a legal consent between the doctor and his patient when an agreement is made to switch to generic drugs.

The Order of Physicians previously criticized the health minister's decision, challenging it before the Shura Council.

The head of the Order of Physicians Antoine al-Bustani stressed that the syndicate supports the unified prescription form, however he argued that the NSSF refuses to compensate the price of the medicine for citizens.

For his part, the head of the Order of Physicians in the North Elie Habib voiced support for al-Bustani's statement, revealing that the syndicate has abiding by the form for the past year and the NSSF completely rejects compensating people.

A member of the NSSF argued that the organization is abiding by the Pharmacists law, voicing fear that the signature of doctors could be forged.

H.K.

G.K.