Republic Act No.

5921:
Pharmacy Law
Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence and Ethics
Prelims

CNMM.RPH
Republic Act No. 5921
• An act regulating the practice of pharmacy and
settings standards pharmaceutical education in the
Philippines and of the other purposes.
Objective of RA 5921
• Govern the standardization and regulation of pharmaceutical
education
• The examination for registration of graduates of school of
pharmacy
• The supervision, control and regulation of the practice of
pharmacy in the Philippines.
Enforcement
• For the purpose of implementation of provisions of this act,
the Council of Pharmaceutical Education and the Board of
Pharmacy are hereby created.
Council of Pharmaceutical Education
• Secretary of Education
• Chairman
• Undersecretary of Health Services
• Food and Drug Administrator
• Chairman of the BOP
• Dean of the College of Pharmacy
• Representative of bona fide national pharmaceutical
organization in the Philippines.
Functions of the Council:
• To promulgate rules and regulation relative to
Pharmaceutical Education in the Philippines
• To submit such rules and regulations, which shall have a
binding effect, for implementation to the proper agencies.
• To recognize and accredit colleges of pharmacy n the
different private colleges and universities
• To approve the accreditation of community or prescription
pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturing laboratories and
hospital pharmacies for purposes of pharmacy internship.
Meeting and Travelling Expenses
• The council meet at least once a month for regular business.
• Shall not be entitled for any compensation except for
travelling expenses in connection with their official duties.
 The Board of Pharmacy and
Examination and Registration of
Pharmacists
The Board of Pharmacy
• Composed of Chairman and two members appointed
by the President of the Philippines
Qualifications of Board Members
• A natural board citizen of the Philippines
• A duly registered pharmacist and has been the practice of
pharmacy for at least ten years
• Of good moral character and of recognized standing in the
pharmaceutical profession
• At the time of appointment, not a member of the faculty of
any school, college or university offering courses in
pharmacy or college of pharmacy
• A member of good standing of any bona fide national
pharmaceutical association of the Philippines.
Tenure of office and fees of board of members
• Hold for three (3) years after appointment
• Chairman shall hold office for three years and one member
for one year
• The most senior member of the board will automatically be
the chairman
• Chairman and member of the boards shall receive the sum
of ten pesos for each applicant.
Removal of the Board Members
• Found guilty if neglect of duty
• Incompetence
• Malpractice
• Unprofessional
• Unethical
• Immoral or dishonorable conduct
• President in his discretion suspend member under
investigation
• Period of suspension shall not exceed sixty days
Powers and Duties of the Board
• To examine applicants for the practice of pharmacy
• To issue certificates of registration of pharmacists
• To reprimand any pharmacist or to suspend or revoke his
certificate of registration
• To promulgate from time to time the necessary rules and
regulation for the effective enforcement of this act
Powers and Duties of the Board
• To study the conditions affecting the practice of pharmacy in
the Philippines
• To check the employment of qualified personnel in drug
stores, hospital pharmacies, drug or pharmaceutical
laboratories and similar establishments for which the board
may designate inspectors from the BOP
• To encourage the development of botanical gardens and
their inspection, particularly the propagation of Philippine
Medicinal Plants with the cooperation of the Department of
Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Grounds for reprimand, suspension or revocation
of registration certificate
• Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction of any violation as
penalized in sections forty and forty-one here of
• Immoral or dishonorable conduct which includes conviction by a
competent court of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude
• Fraud or deceit in the acquisition of the certificate of registration
• Gross negligence, ignorance or incompetence in the practice of this
profession resulting in the injury, damage or death of another
• Insanity
Grounds for reprimand, suspension or
revocation of registration certificate
• Malpractice, including aiding or abetting the commission of criminal
abortion or sex crimes through illegal compounding, dispensing or
sale of abortive or sex drugs
• Acting as a dummy of an alien or a person who is not qualified and
operate a retail drugstore
• Addiction to alcoholic beverage or to any habit-forming rendering him
incompetent to practice his profession
• False or extravagant or unethical advertisements
• Violation of any provision of the code of ethics which may be adopted
as part of the rules and regulation of the board.
Candidate for board examination
• He shall be natural born citizen of the Philippines
• He shall be of good moral character
• He shall be completed an internship program
• He shall have graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science
in Pharmacy
Scope of examination
• Module 1
• Module 2
• Module 3
• Module 4
• Module 5
• Module 6
Ratings required
• A candidate must obtain on the basis of hundred percent a
general average of seventy five percent or over.
• With no ratings below fifty percent in more than 2 subjects.
• Candidate who fails to pass in three successive attempts
shall not be admitted in the fourth examination unless he
could present the board certification that he enrolled and
undergone within a year preceding, a pre-board review
course from a duly accredited College of Pharmacy
Holding of examination
• Examination for registration to practice pharmacy in
the Philippines shall be given twice a year in the City
of Manila.
Practice of Pharmacy
Definition of Practice of Pharmacy
• A person shall be deemed to be practicing pharmacy for a
fee, salary, percentage or other reward paid.
• Prepare or manufacture, analyze, assay, preserve, store,
distribute or sell any medicine, drug chemicals, cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals and devices.
Prerequisite for the Practice of Pharmacy
• At least 21 years of age
• Has satisfactory passed the corresponding examination
• Is a holder of a valid certificate of registration duly issued to
him by said board.
Sales of medicine, pharmaceuticals, drugs,
devices
• No medicine, pharmaceutical or drug whether nature and
kind or device shall be compounded, dispensed, sold or
resold be made available to the consuming public.
Pharmacist required and compensation
• Every pharmacy, drugstore or hospital pharmacy shall at all
times when open for business be under the personal and
immediate supervision of registered pharmacist
• No pharmacist shall have personal supervision of more than
one establishment
• In case where a drug establishment operates in more than
one shift, each shift must be under the supervision and
control of a registered pharmacist.
Display of certificate required
• It is the duty of the pharmacist engaged in the practice of
pharmacy either on his own account or under the employ of
another to display his certificate of registration.
• No pharmacist allow his certificate of registration to be
displayed in such establishments when he is not actually
employed.
Filling and refilling of prescription
• No prescription shall be filled or compounded except by a
registered pharmacist.
• It shall be incumbent upon the pharmacist so compounding
or filling the prescription to see to it that every component
of the prescription called for meets the standard of purity
and quality.
• No prescription shall be refilled except upon express order of
the person prescribing.
Record books of prescription
• All prescriptions dispensed in the drugstore shall be recorded
in the books kept for the purpose indicating:
• The name of manufacturer
• The original stock
• Lot and control numbers of the main ingredients of the
prescription
• The book shall open to inspection by the proper authorities
at any of the day when the pharmacy is open to the public.
Inhibition against use of cipher or unusual
terms in prescription
• No pharmacist shall compound or dispense prescriptions,
recipes or formulas which are written in ciphers, codes or
secret keys.
• No pharmacist dispensing or compounding prescription shall
substitute the drug or drugs called for in the prescription
with any other drug/substance/ingredient without prior
consultation.
Provision relative to dispensing of anti-
conceptional substances and devices
• No drug or chemical product or device capable of provoking
abortion or preventing conception as classified by the FDA
shall be delivered or sold to any person.
• Pharmacist is in charge of a drugstore or pharmacy after
filling a prescription containing abortive and anti-
conceptional substance or device.
Provisions relative to dispensing of potent drug
• Every pharmacist who dispenses, sells or delivers any drug
which falls under the classification of the Food and Drug
Administration as potent drugs shall do so only upon
prescription of a duly licensed physician, dentist or
veterinarian.
Requirements for the opening and operations
of drugstores and pharmacies
• Shall be accordance with the rules and regulation to be
prescribed by the FDA
• Only natural born Filipino citizen who are registered
pharmacists can apply for the opening of a retail drugstore.
Penal provisions
• Fine of not less than one thousand pesos but not exceeding
four thousand pesos
• Or to an imprisonment of not less than six months and one
day but not more than four years.

Other Penalties:
• Fine of not less than thirty days but not more than four
months.
Definition of Terms
• Pharmacy or Drugstores
• A place of establishment where drugs, chemical products, active principle of
drugs, pharmaceuticals, proprietary medicines or pharmaceutical specialties,
devices and poisons are sold at retail and where medical, dental and
veterinary prescriptions are compounded and dispensed.

• Drug or Pharmaceutical Laboratory / Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

• An establishment where pharmaceuticals, propriety medicines or
pharmaceutical specialties are prepared, compounded, standardized and
distributed or sold.
Definition of Terms
• Wholesaler
• Means and includes every person who acts as merchant, broker or agent, who
sells or distributes for resale pharmaceuticals, propriety medicines or
pharmaceutical specialties.
• Drug
• Article recognized in the official USP or the United States Official National
Formulary, or any of their supplements
• Articles intended for use in diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or
prevention of disease in man or animals
• Articles intended to affect the structure or function of the body of man or
animals.
Definition of Terms
• Pharmaceuticals, Propriety Medicines, Pharmaceutical Specialties
• Means any drug, preparation or mixture of drugs marked under a trade name
and intended for the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in
man or animals.
• Device
• Means instrument, apparatus, or device including their components, parts
and accessories intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment
or prevention of disease in man or animals
• Or to affect the structure or any function of the body in man or animals.
Definition of Terms
• Biological Products
• Are viruses, sera, toxins and analogous products used for the prevention or
cure of human disease.
• Poison
• Is any drug, active principle or preparation of the same, capable of destroying
life or seriously endangering health when applied externally to the body or
introduced internally in moderate doses.
• Cipher
• Means a method of secret writing that substitutes other letters or characters
for the letter intended or transposes the letter after arranging them in blocks
or sqaures.
Definition of Terms
• Code
• Means a system of words or other systems arbitrarily used to represent words

• Secret keys
• Means characteristics styles or symbols kept from the knowledge of others or
disclosed confidentiality to but one or few.