New regulations governing the pick-up of prescription medication will go into effect next week. Per a statement on the on Government of Iceland website, starting on Tuesday, March 10, medication will only be given over to the person to whom the prescription was written, or to someone who has that person’s express written authorisation. Anyone who is picking up a prescription will be required to show valid identification.
These changes are going into effect on the basis of incidents where medication has been given over to someone other than the prescription holder without their authorisation and thus represents a violation of privacy.
Authorisation for a proxy to pick up medication must be in writing and must also bear the signatures of two witnesses, along with their full names and kennitala (Iceland’s national ID number). The original authorisation or a copy of it will then be kept at the pharmacy. This authorisation can specify if the proxy is empowered to pick up any medication on behalf of the prescription holder for an indefinite period of time or just a single medication for a limited amount of time. Parents are permitted to pick up medication for children 16 years and younger without written authorisation.
