What they will sell you without a prescription is decided not by the pharmacy but by the stripe on the packaging: no stripe — over-the-counter sale, red — by prescription, black — special control. An antibiotic will not be sold without a prescription: the pharmacy keeps the prescription, and it cannot be used a second time. The original can be replaced by a generic — the pharmacist does this and records the substitution directly on the prescription. Some drugs for blood pressure, diabetes and asthma are issued free under the federal Farmácia Popular program in ordinary pharmacies marked “Aqui Tem Farmácia Popular”: you need a document with a photo and a CPF number plus a prescription no older than 180 days.
The strip on the packaging determines what you'll be sold
The habit “they sold this over the counter at home” does not work here in either direction: some drugs are stricter in Brazil, some are more permissive. You need to look at the strip.
| Strip | What it means |
|---|---|
| No strip | Over-the-counter medicine (MIP). Criteria for classification are set by RDC 98/2016: non-serious condition, short course, low risk in case of incorrect use |
| Red | “Venda sob prescrição médica”. Divided in two: either the prescription is presented and taken back by the patient — or the prescription is retained, and it remains at the pharmacy |
| Black | Special control: drugs acting on the central nervous system. The prescription is always retained, and the form for them is separate |
| Yellow | This is not a sales regime, but origin: a yellow strip and the inscription “Medicamento Genérico” mean a generic. On top of it on the same box there may be a red or black strip |
Antibiotics: the prescription remains at the pharmacy
A separate rule and the most common surprise. Under RDC 20/2011 antimicrobial drugs are sold with retention of the prescription: on the packaging there is a direct inscription “só pode ser vendido com retenção da receita”. The prescription can be filled once — you cannot buy on it a second time a month later, because the pharmacy has kept it.
An antibiotic course is planned together with the doctor in full, not “I'll buy another pack later”.
Special control: specific forms
For drugs from the lists of Portaria 344/98 a regular prescription is not enough — a form of an established type is required, and each group has its own.
| Form | For what |
|---|---|
| Notificação de Receita A, yellow | Narcotic and psychotropic substances of lists A1, A2, A3 |
| Notificação de Receita B, blue | Lists B1 and B2. Valid for 30 days and only in the state where it was issued |
| Receita de Controle Especial, white, in two copies | Lists C1 and C5. Valid for 30 days and nationwide. Copies are signed: the first remains in the pharmacy, the second — for the patient |
What matters for someone living here: antidepressants, neuroleptics and anticonvulsants are list C1, that is, a white form in two copies, and one of them the pharmacy keeps. That means a fresh appointment with a doctor is required for each purchase, and a form issued in another state will not work for group B.
The classification of a specific drug into a list is a question for the doctor and ANVISA, not a guess from the name.
Generic: substitution is allowed, but not arbitrary
A generic in Brazil is a drug with the same active substance, the same dose and form, which has passed equivalence studies. On the box — a yellow strip, the inscription “Medicamento Genérico” and a reference to Lei nº 9.787, de 1999. It has no trade name; the name of the substance is used instead.
Three rules to know before talking at the counter:
- a prescribed drug can be replaced with a generic only by the pharmacy pharmacist — not by the seller and not by the buyer at their discretion;
- the pharmacist is obliged to record the substitution on the prescription, certifying it with their signature and CRF registration number;
- the doctor can prohibit substitution, explicitly noting this on the prescription.
In the public system prescriptions are written by the active substance name, not by the brand — so the familiar brand may not appear at all on a SUS prescription.
Farmácia Popular: what is provided for free
This is not a network of government pharmacies, but a federal program in ordinary private pharmacies. A participant is marked with the sign “Aqui Tem Farmácia Popular”; the list of addresses is published by the Ministério da Saúde in a separate panel on its page.
Free items are provided for: hypertension, diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis, dyslipidemia, rhinitis, Parkinson's disease, glaucoma, contraception. Besides medicines — geriatric diapers and, under the “Dignidade Menstrual” program, pads.
What to bring with you:
- a document with a photo and the CPF number — acceptable documents include identity card (identidade), carteira de trabalho, passport, driver's license;
- a prescription from a doctor, from public or private practice equally, issued no more than 180 days ago.
A prescription for the program must contain the patient's name and address, the doctor's name and registration number at the CRM, the address of the facility, dosage, date and signature. Diapers require a separate medical justification, pads — an authorization valid for 180 days.
At night and on weekends
Pharmacy duty is mandatory in Brazil, and the schedule is set by the municipality. How this looks in Santa Catarina is visible from the annual decree of the Prefeitura de Canoinhas: a weekly rotation among pharmacies, duty hours from 24:00 to 07:00 on weekdays, weekends and holidays, and each pharmacy in the schedule has a phone number — at night they are contacted by call, not by arriving at random.
In Florianópolis you should not rely on such a rotation: there are pharmacies in the city that operate 24/7 on their own, independently of the duty schedule. Their addresses are in the entry Medical care and insurance in Brazil, and there is a caveat there that the 24-hour status was taken from a map, not confirmed by the owner.
Sources
- T1Ministério da Saúde — Farmácia Popular program: indications for which the medicine is dispensed free, required documents, the “Aqui Tem Farmácia Popular” sign and the participant pharmacies address panelgov.br · primary source
- T1ANVISA — generics: yellow stripe and inscription «Medicamento Genérico Lei nº 9.787, de 1999», substitution right only by the pharmacist, record of substitution on the prescriptiongov.br · primary source
- T1RDC ANVISA nº 20 of 5 May 2011 — dispensing of antimicrobial drugs: retention of the prescription, label on the packaging, prescription valid oncebvsms.saude.gov.br · primary source
- T1Ministério da Saúde — what the colored stripes on packaging mean: no stripe, red with and without prescription retention, black, yellow for genericsgov.br · primary source
- T1RDC ANVISA nº 98 of 1 Aug 2016 — criteria for classifying a drug as over-the-counter (MIP); the LMIP list is updated by a separate instructionbvsms.saude.gov.br · primary source
- T1Portaria SVS/MS nº 344 of 12 May 1998 — lists of controlled substances and special control formsbvsms.saude.gov.br · primary source
- T1Decreto nº 471/2024 of the Prefeitura de Canoinhas (SC) in Diário Oficial dos Municípios de Santa Catarina — annual pharmacy on-call rota: weekly rotation, hours 24:00–07:00, each pharmacy's phone. Taken as a model of the mechanism, not as Florianópolis schedules3cache.dom.sc.gov.br · primary source
- T2Pharmaceutical manual of Hospital Sírio-Libanês — summary regarding Portaria 344/98: which form corresponds to which listguiafarmaceutico.hsl.org.br · secondary source
T1 — primary: law, agency site, price list. T2 — secondary: press, specialist sites. T3 — other.