The prescriptions for medicines and complementary diagnostic and therapeutic means will now be valid for one year, according to the law published this Friday in the Diário da República. The measure comes into force on 1 April, and entities have 90 days to adapt their systems.


In order to improve the care response in primary health care, particularly with regard to "reduce bureaucracy of processes", the Government decided to extend the "validity period of prescription of medicines and complementary diagnostic and therapeutic means for 12 months", reads the law No. 97/2023, published this Friday in the Diário da República, signed by the Secretary of State for Health, Ricardo Mestre.


Until now, these prescriptions were valid for six months, so the aim is to ease bureaucracy for both family doctors and citizens. As usual, the period starts from the day on which the respective prescription is issued.


According to the law, the measure comes into force already from today, 1 April. However, the Government stresses that the "systems and other instruments necessary for the proper implementation of the changes introduced have a maximum of 90 days after the entry into force to adapt.