Section 21 — POISONS ACT 1952

(a)

where the sale or supply of such poison, if it had been a

Group A Poison, would have been authorized under section 20;

(b)

by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist

Division I or registered veterinary surgeon selling or supplying the same in accordance with section 19; or

(c)

by a registered pharmacist, as a dispensed medicine on and in accordance with a prescription prescribed by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or registered veterinary surgeon in the form required by subsection (2) or (2A) and when supplied in accordance with this Act and of any regulations made thereunder relating to such sale or supply on a prescription.

Form of prescription for Group B Poison

(2)

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2A), every prescription for any Group B Poison prescribed by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist, or registered veterinary surgeon shall—

(a)

be in writing signed and dated by the prescriber thereof;

(b)

state the name and address of the prescriber;

(c)

state the name and address of the patient or, in the case of a prescription by a registered veterinary surgeon, the name and address of the person to whom such medicine is to be delivered;

(d)

indicate the total amount of medicine to be supplied and the dose; and

Poisons 27

(e)

specify the number of times (not exceeding three) the medicine may be dispensed and, if dispensed more than once, at what intervals.

Electronic prescription

(2A)

When a prescription is prescribed through electronic means, every prescription for any Group B Poison prescribed by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or registered veterinary surgeon shall—

(a)

be created and dated in electronic form;

(b)

be signed with a digital signature by the prescriber;

(c)

be sent to a registered pharmacist as an electronic message; and

(d)

contain information as in paragraphs (2)(b), (c), (d) and (e).

(2B)

In this section “digital signature” means a signature that is made in accordance with the Digital Signature Act 1997 [Act 562].

(3)

No person shall sell or supply by retail any Group B Poison on a prescription which does not comply with all the requirements of subsection (1) or which contravenes subsection (5) or shall sell or supply such poison otherwise than in accordance with the terms of such prescription.

(4)

Every person selling or supplying any Group B Poison on a prescription shall, at the time of selling or supplying the same, endorse or mark the prescription in a manner so as to permanently attach to the prescription, his name and address and the date on which such poison was sold or supplied.

(5)

No prescription for any Group B Poison shall be written wholly or partly in code or in such manner that it is not readily decipherable and capable of being dispensed by any pharmacist.

28 Laws of Malaysia ACT 366

(6)

Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing subsection of this section, if it shall appear to the seller or supplier that any medicine is required urgently and that it is impossible without unreasonable delay to obtain a prescription complying with the requirements of subsection (1), it shall be lawful for the seller or supplier, after making an entry to that effect in his Prescription Book, upon the verbal or telephoned instructions of a registered medical practitioner, personally known to him, to sell or supply such poison without such prescription:

Provided that in every such case the seller or supplier shall take all necessary steps to obtain, and the prescriber shall deliver, a prescription in accordance with subsection (1) within one day of the date of such sale or supply.

(7)

Any person, selling or supplying any Group B Poison in contravention of this section, of failing or neglecting to endorse such prescription as required by subsection (4), or writing any prescription in code or otherwise in contravention of subsection (5), or failing to take any necessary step to obtain, or failing to deliver, the prescription as required by subsection (6), shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

Group C Poisons