Collecting your prescription at a Swedish pharmacy

Why one specific pharmacy

Swedish e-prescriptions for people with a personal number go to a national system that any pharmacy can read. Prescriptions issued on a date of birth instead must be sent directly to a specific, named pharmacy. That is why your doctor asks which pharmacy suits you — near your hotel, open late, or on your route.

At the pharmacy

• Bring your passport or national ID.
• Say you have an e-prescription and give your date of birth (for example 12 March 1986, 1986-03-12).
• If the medicine is not in stock, the pharmacy can often order it within a day — or your doctor can send it to another pharmacy.
• Keep the receipt for your insurance claim.

Someone else collecting for you

If you are too unwell to go yourself, someone else can usually collect the medicine if they bring their own ID and your passport. Ask the pharmacy if you are unsure.

What it costs

Sweden's high-cost protection for medicines only applies to people registered in Sweden, so visitors pay the full price. Common antibiotics and similar medicines are usually moderately priced; the pharmacy tells you the price before you pay.

Prescriptions from home

Prescriptions written by a licensed prescriber in the EU/EEA can in principle be filled in Sweden, but in practice not always, for example if the exact medicine isn't available here, and some strong medicines can never be dispensed on a foreign prescription. If your prescription can't be used, a doctor can assess whether a Swedish prescription is appropriate — see prescription renewal.