Pharmacies must retain a copy of a prescription 2 years past the completion of therapy with regard to the prescription, or 42 months, whichever is greater. Health Canada has just confirmed that the federal government now interprets the retention provision in the Food and Drug Act as including electronically scanned copies.
This means that if original prescriptions are scanned into a secure electronic database, pharmacies are no longer required to retain paper prescriptions.
Resources
Record retention chart
Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies – Standard 8.3
Food and Drug Regulations – see Section C.01.041.1 (2) and (3)
