The separation of physician dispensing from medical practice in Taiwan has been implemented for 15 years, and patients can only get medicines at pharmacies with their prescriptions.

According to legislators, some pharmacies without sufficient stocking of medication would turn to pharmaceutical logistics centers for medicines.

However, the action may cause the leakage of patients' sensitive data and legislators are urging the Department of Health to enhance the management of pharmacies and those logistics centers to protect patients' privacy.

For 15 years the domestic pharmacy industry has been operating independently, though the release of prescription orders have reached little more than 30%, leading to difficulties at a number of community pharmacies.

Pharmacists said that the low rate of prescription release leads some to worry that personal information may be leaked.

This because when people sign for prescriptions, pharmacies are not able to stock 2,000 different prescriptions as they send the prescriptions to drug companies or "prescription drug logistic centers."

Some may be unscrupulous, including those trying to save costs by outsourcing to China, with the potential of patients losing the right to privacy.

The Department of Health requested hospitals to improve the proportion of chronic prescription release to at least 30%,

and also promised better supervision of these drug logistics centers and curbing illegal activities in order to ensure pharmaceutical safety and the privacy of all involved.

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