At the pharmacy in Peru: can they sell you expired medicine, skip the prescription or swap your brand for a generic?

Expired medicine cannot be sold

The rule is in article 46 of Ley 29459, Peru’s law on pharmaceutical products:

“Son prohibidas las siguientes actividades: […] 2. La fabricación, la importación, el almacenamiento, la distribución, la comercialización, la publicidad, la dispensación, la tenencia y la transferencia de cualquier tipo de productos farmacéuticos, dispositivos médicos o productos sanitarios sin registro sanitario, falsificados, contaminados, en mal estado de conservación o envases adulterados, con fecha de expiración vencida, de procedencia desconocida, sustraído u otra forma con fines ilícitos.”

(The following are prohibited: manufacturing, importing, storing, distributing, selling, advertising, dispensing, holding or transferring any pharmaceutical product, medical device or health product that is unregistered, counterfeit, contaminated, badly stored, in tampered packaging, past its expiry date, of unknown origin or stolen.)

It is not only the sale. Holding, storing or dispensing them is also prohibited. The same rule covers unregistered, counterfeit or badly stored products.

As a customer you also have the Consumer Code: article 19 says “el proveedor responde por la idoneidad y calidad de los productos y servicios ofrecidos” (the supplier answers for the fitness and quality of what it sells). An expired product is not what you paid for.

Prescription-only and over-the-counter

The law classifies every pharmaceutical product by how it may be dispensed. Article 33 of Ley 29459 says:

“La Autoridad Nacional de Productos Farmacéuticos, Dispositivos Médicos y Productos Sanitarios (ANM) clasifica los productos farmacéuticos para efectos de su dispensación, en las siguientes categorías: […] 2. De venta con receta médica que solo son dispensados en farmacias, boticas y servicios de farmacia de establecimientos de salud del sector público y privado. 3. De venta sin receta médica que se dispensan exclusivamente en farmacias, boticas y servicios de farmacia de establecimientos de salud del sector público y del sector privado.”

(The national medicines authority, the ANM, classifies drugs for dispensing: prescription-only drugs, dispensed only in pharmacies, boticas and clinic pharmacies; and over-the-counter drugs, also dispensed only in those places.)

Article 32, in its current wording, says “la dispensación de los productos comprendidos en esta Ley debe hacerse según la condición de venta establecida en el registro sanitario” (dispensing must follow the sale condition set in the product’s health registration).

Put together: if a drug is registered as prescription-only, the pharmacy must dispense it under that condition. This follows from articles 32 and 33, but the law does not say in those words “the pharmacy must ask for the prescription”. The details (what a prescription must contain, how long it is valid, whether the pharmacy keeps it) are in the regulation, which we did not review.

Prescriptions must state the generic name

Article 31 of Ley 29459 sets how drugs are prescribed:

“La prescripción de medicamentos debe hacerse consignando obligatoriamente la Denominación Común Internacional (DCI), la forma farmacéutica, dosis, duración del tratamiento, vía de administración y opcionalmente el nombre de marca si lo tuviere”

(Prescriptions must state the International Nonproprietary Name, the dosage form, dose, length of treatment and route; the brand name is optional.)

The Denominación Común Internacional (DCI) is the International Nonproprietary Name (INN): the generic name of the active ingredient, such as “paracetamol”, not the brand. The brand is optional on the prescription. That matters for what comes next.

Generics: they must offer them, and you choose

Ley 32033, from 2024, rewrote article 32 of Ley 29459. It now says:

“El químico-farmacéutico responsable del establecimiento farmacéutico de dispensación está obligado a ofrecer al paciente o usuario alternativas de medicamentos genéricos con el o los mismos principios activos, con la concentración y forma farmacéutica respecto de los medicamentos prescritos en una receta, bajo responsabilidad, considerando en primer lugar a los medicamentos genéricos en DCI. Esta obligación debe respetarse en todos los canales de venta, incluyendo los canales virtuales o digitales del establecimiento farmacéutico. En la dispensación se ofrece al usuario todas las alternativas existentes, a fin de garantizar su derecho a elegir el producto, evitando la asimetría informativa que se sanciona de acuerdo con las disposiciones contenidas en la Ley 29571, Código de Protección y Defensa del Consumidor.”

(The pharmacist in charge must offer generic alternatives with the same active ingredients, strength and dosage form as the prescribed drugs, putting INN generics first. This applies in every sales channel, online included. All existing alternatives are offered so that the customer can choose; failing to inform is penalised under the Consumer Code, Ley 29571.)

What this means for you:

• They must offer generics. Same active ingredient, same strength, same dosage form. INN generics first.
• It applies online too. The duty covers the chain’s website or app.
• You choose. The law speaks of offering and of your right to choose the product. It does not say the pharmacist may swap your medicine without telling you.

The regulation, amended in 2024, adds two things. Its article 49 says the pharmacist offers the alternatives “así como la información acerca de los precios, debiendo abstenerse de inducir al usuario a adquirir alguna de dichas alternativas” (along with price information, and must not steer you toward any of them). And article 4 of Ley 32033 requires private pharmacies to tell you whether any product offered “es elaborado o distribuido por alguna empresa vinculada al establecimiento farmacéutico” (is made or distributed by a company linked to the pharmacy).

Private pharmacies must stock generics

Article 27.4 of Ley 29459, also as worded by Ley 32033, says private pharmacies, boticas and clinic pharmacies “están obligadas a mantener disponible al menos el 30 % de su oferta de medicamentos de marca, en la alternativa de los medicamentos esenciales genéricos en DCI” (must keep available, for at least 30% of their brand-name range, the INN generic alternative) from the list approved by the Ministry of Health. It is counted by item, not by units in stock, and microenterprises are exempt.

Article 27.5 adds that they must sell “por esquema terapéutico completo, unidad, blíster o caja, según corresponda” (by full treatment course, unit, blister or box, as appropriate). That last phrase matters: the law does not say you can always buy a single pill.

Breaching article 27 carries a warning or a fine of up to 2 UIT, under article 5 of Ley 32033.

Prices

The pharmacy must have a price list ordered by generic name. Article 5.2 of the Consumer Code says:

“Para el caso de productos farmacéuticos, dispositivos médicos y productos sanitarios, los establecimientos farmacéuticos deben poner a disposición del consumidor el listado de precios de estos productos. La relación de precios de los productos farmacéuticos está ordenada alfabéticamente, de acuerdo a su Denominación Común Internacional (DCI).”

(Pharmacies must make their price list available to consumers, ordered alphabetically by INN.)

We explain this on the mandatory price display page. Article 28 of Ley 29459 also provides that “se implementa el observatorio de precios, disponibilidad y calidad de medicamentos” (a public observatory of medicine prices, availability and quality is set up) so people can make informed decisions.

DIGEMID or Indecopi?

They are two separate routes, and you can use both.

Article 44 of Ley 29459 says health oversight “es responsabilidad de los órganos desconcentrados de la Autoridad Nacional de Salud (OD), la Autoridad Nacional de Productos Farmacéuticos, Dispositivos Médicos y Productos Sanitarios (ANM), las autoridades regionales de salud (ARS) y las autoridades de productos farmacéuticos, dispositivos médicos y productos sanitarios de nivel regional (ARM), según corresponda” (lies with the national health authority’s decentralised bodies, the ANM, and the regional health and medicines authorities). DIGEMID’s complaints portal takes reports of products past their expiry date, without health registration or of unknown origin.

For the consumer side, see how to file a complaint with Indecopi and the complaints book.

What this page does not cover

We do not cover the regulation’s rules on prescriptions (requirements, validity, retention), drugs that need a special numbered prescription, sales of medicine outside pharmacies, penalties for selling expired products, or the fine amounts set in the regulation. We did not review Indecopi or health-authority decisions on pharmacies. If the problem was medical care or a clinic, the route is different: patient complaints to SUSALUD.