"Medicines to Your Door" – is a revolution in Mail-Order sales of prescription medicines on the horizon?
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What are the current rules?
Mail-order sales of medicinal products in Poland are permitted exclusively through community pharmacies and pharmacy outlets, pursuant to the provisions of the Pharmaceutical Law. Under this sales model, only non-prescription medicines (OTC) are allowed, with the exception of products whose dispensing is restricted by the patient's age. It should be noted that food supplements and cosmetics are not subject to the regulations on mail-order sales of medicinal products.
The pharmacy is responsible for organizing and carrying out the entire process of delivering the medicinal product to the recipient – including where transport is performed by an external courier company. Each shipment requires a label containing, among other things, the facility's stamp imprint, order number, recipient details, transport conditions and a contact telephone number. The regulations impose an obligation to maintain the temperature conditions specified for the given medicinal product.
The above rules were reiterated in the communication of the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector of 12 March 2026 – as we reported in our SK&S Alert.
Prescription medicines and the "Medicine to Your Door" initiative
Mail-order sales of prescription medicines are currently not permitted in Poland. The government previously withdrew from plans to introduce them.
The first reports of a possible amendment to the regulations on mail-order sales emerged in April 2026 – during a session of the Parliamentary Group for the Regulation of the Pharmacy Market and Medicinal Products.
In May 2026, one of the members of parliament announced that a draft act entitled "Medicine to Your Door" would be submitted to the Sejm after the summer recess.
The currently known assumptions of the draft act are as follows:
- delivery of prescription medicines to the place of residence of: (a) senior citizens and (b) bedridden patients;
- deliveries would be carried out by pharmacy employees or couriers;
- the territorial scope would be limited to the area of a district;
- medicines containing narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or new psychoactive substances would be excluded from the system.
Moreover, despite reports of the draft act being supported by the "pharmaceutical community", the Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber issued a special communication. The Chamber called for the immediate presentation of the draft act together with information on the actual authors of the proposed legislative changes.
Will mail-order sales of Rx medicines become a reality? The information presented at this stage is of a preliminary nature, and the details of the draft bill will most likely be revealed after the summer recess. We are continuously monitoring the legislative process and will keep you informed of further developments in this matter.