15.—(1) For the purposes of section 58(2)(a) a prescription only medicine shall not be taken to be sold or supplied in accordance with a prescription given by an appropriate practitioner unless the conditions specified in paragraph (2) are fulfilled.
(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) are that the prescription–
(a)shall be signed in ink with his own name by the appropriate practitioner giving it;
(b)shall, without prejudice to sub-paragraph (a), be written in ink or otherwise so as to be indelible, unless it is a health prescription which is not for a controlled drug specified in Schedule 1, 2 or 3 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, in which case it may be written by means of carbon paper or similar material;
(c)shall contain the following particulars–
(i)the address of the appropriate practitioner giving it,
(ii)the appropriate date,
(iii)such particulars as indicate whether the appropriate practitioner giving it is a doctor, a dentist, an appropriate nurse practitioner, a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary practitioner,
(iv)where the appropriate practitioner giving it is a doctor, dentist or appropriate nurse practitioner, the name, address and the age, if under 12, of the person for whose treatment it is given, and
(v)where the appropriate practitioner giving it is a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary practitioner, the name and address of the person to whom the prescription only medicine is to be delivered and a declaration by the veterinary surgeon or veterinary practitioner giving it that the prescription only medicine is prescribed for an animal or herd under his care;
(d)shall not be dispensed after the end of the period of 6 months from the appropriate date, unless it is a repeatable prescription in which case it shall not be dispensed for the first time after the end of that period nor otherwise than in accordance with the directions contained in the repeatable prescription;
(e)in the case of a repeatable prescription which does not specify the number of times it may be dispensed, shall not be dispensed on more than two occasions unless it is a prescription for an oral contraceptive in which case it may be dispensed 6 times before the end of the period of 6 months from the appropriate date.
(3) The restrictions imposed by section 58(2)(a) (restrictions on sale and supply) shall not apply to a sale or supply of a prescription only medicine which is not in accordance with a prescription given by an appropriate practitioner by reason only that a condition specified in paragraph (2) is not satisfied where the person selling or supplying the prescription only medicine, having exercised all due diligence, believes on reasonable grounds that that condition is satisfied in relation to that sale or supply.
(4) In paragraph (2) “the appropriate date” means–
(a)in the case of a health prescription, the date on which it was signed by the appropriate practitioner giving it or a date indicated by him as being the date before which it shall not be dispensed; and
(b)in every other case, the date on which the prescription was signed by the appropriate practitioner giving it;
and, for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) of that paragraph, where a health prescription bears both the date on which it was signed and a date indicated as being that before which it shall not be dispensed, the appropriate date is the later of those dates.