Medicines Act
(Chapter 176, Sections 29 and 54)
Medicines (Prescription Oral Dental Gums) Order
O 20
G.N. No. S 663/2003

REVISED EDITION 2005
(31st March 2005)
[1st January 2004]
Citation
1.  This Order may be cited as the Medicines (Prescription Oral Dental Gums) Order.
Definitions
2.  In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires —
“oral dental gum” has the same meaning as in the Medicines (Oral Dental Gums) (Specification) Order (O 19);
“prescription oral dental gum” means an oral dental gum of a description or class specified for the purposes of section 29 of the Act and referred to in paragraph 4;
“sell” means sell by retail as defined in section 2(2) of the Act and “sale” has a corresponding meaning;
“supply” means supply in circumstances corresponding to retail sale as defined in section 2(2) of the Act.
Appropriate practitioners
3.  For the purposes of section 29 of the Act, doctors and dentists shall be appropriate practitioners in relation to prescription oral dental gums.
Oral dental gum on prescription only
4.  An oral dental gum is an oral dental gum specified for the purposes of section 29 of the Act (prescription oral dental gum) if it is of the description set out in the Schedule.
Prescriptions
5.—(1)  For the purposes of section 29(2)(a) of the Act (restrictions on sale and supply), a prescription oral dental gum shall not be taken to be sold or supplied in accordance with a prescription given by a practitioner unless the conditions specified in sub-paragraph (2) are fulfilled.
(2)  For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), the conditions are that —
(a)the prescription shall be in writing and signed by the practitioner giving it with his usual signature and dated by him;
(b)the prescription shall contain the following particulars:
(i)the address of the practitioner giving it;
(ii)the name and address of the person for whose treatment it is given; and
(iii)the total amount of the prescription oral dental gum to be supplied and the dose to be taken;
(c)the prescription shall not provide for repeated dispensing;
(d)at the time of dispensing, the person dispensing the prescription shall note on the face of the prescription, above the signature of the practitioner, the name and address of the person dispensing it and the date on which the prescription is dispensed; and
(e)the prescription shall be retained after dispensation by the person dispensing it.
(3)  The restrictions imposed by section 29(2)(a) of the Act (restrictions on sale and supply) shall not apply to a sale and supply of a prescription oral dental gum which is not in accordance with a prescription given by an appropriate practitioner by reason only that a condition specified in sub-paragraph (2) is not fulfilled, where the person selling or supplying the prescription oral dental gum, having exercised all due diligence, believes on reasonable grounds that that condition is fulfilled in relation to that sale or supply.
Exemptions for sale and supply in hospitals or licensed private hospitals
6.  The restrictions imposed by section 29(2)(a) of the Act (restrictions on sale and supply) shall not apply to the sale and supply of a prescription oral dental gum in the course of the business of any ward, theatre or other section in a Government hospital or a private hospital licensed under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (Cap. 248) where the prescription oral dental gum is supplied in accordance with the written directions of a doctor or dentist or registered nurse in charge of the ward, theatre or section of that hospital, notwithstanding that those instructions do not fulfil the conditions specified in paragraph 5(2).
Exemptions in cases involving another’s default or forged prescriptions
7.—(1)  The restrictions imposed by section 29(2)(a) of the Act (restrictions on sale and supply) shall not apply to the sale and supply of a prescription oral dental gum by a pharmacist if —
(a)the pharmacist having exercised all due diligence, believes on reasonable grounds that the product sold or supplied is not a prescription oral dental gum; and
(b)it is due to the act or default of another person that the product is a product to which section 29(2)(a) of the Act applies.
(2)  The restrictions imposed by section 29(2)(a) of the Act (restrictions on sale and supply) shall not apply to the sale and supply of a prescription oral dental gum by a pharmacist in accordance with a forged prescription where the pharmacist, having exercised all due diligence, believes on reasonable grounds that the prescription is genuine.
Relationship between this Order and other written laws
8.  This Order is in addition to, and not in derogation of or substitution for, any other written law.