The Ministry of Health intensifies efforts to ensure that health and pharmaceutical facilities adhere to approved regulations and bylaws, and to guarantee the availability of medicines, medical devices and supplies according to approved standards.
The Ministry continues to apply legal procedures against violators to enhance compliance with regulatory controls in the health sector, in accordance with the provisions of The Law of Pharmaceutical and Herbal Establishments, and the Law of Practicing Healthcare Professions, to achieve the highest standards of safety and quality in providing healthcare services.
The Ministry emphasized the necessity of health practitioners and facilities’ adherence to the regulations of prescribing and dispensing medicines, including: dispensing medicines by scientific name only, displaying all available pharmaceutical options to the patient, providing essential medicines and locally manufactured medicines according to approved lists, and ensuring that medicines are dispensed according to approved regulatory controls, including adherence to medical prescriptions, and not obtaining any illegitimate benefit, in exchange for dispensing medicine, while adhering to the controls for dispensing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
On this point, the Ministry clarified the penalties for violating this, as the regulations included fines of up to 100,000 riyals, closing violating facilities for up to 60 days, and canceling licenses.
The regulations also included penalties for violating health practitioners, as penalties reached imprisonment for a period of 6 months, and a fine of up to 100,000 riyals.
The Ministry urged all health and pharmaceutical facilities, and practitioners to fully adhere to the regulations and rules, to achieve a safe and healthy environment.