Doctors for expats?

Maybe an explanation of what you need.

Google says S2 is a Bronchodilator inhaler.

Scheduled 2 drugs are controlled substances.

@gipper13 what type of medical doctor you require?

    Just retired here from USA. I've one prescription that I must have filled here. I'm told I need a doctor with at least an S2 rating.
I'm in Dasmarinas Cavite. Can anyone refer a good doctor?
Thanks!

If you need a narcotic, SSRI, benzodiazepine, Ambien or other controlled substance, the doctor  here must have S2, an upgraded license to write those controlled substance prescriptions. My internal medicine doctor used to have S2 but she let it expire because, apparently, it is costly and/ or a pain to renew. So, what she does is issue the prescription and forwards it to a doctor in outpatient who writes it in her behalf. No big deal. My doctor is associated with a hospital here so it is very easy. It probably is the case that many doctors without S2 have other doctors available to write their prescriptions. If I were you and needed S2 meds I would look for a teaching hospital with resident doctors and do the same thing. You could try it with a smaller clinic but depending on what their business is, nobody there may have S2 but while there you could ask them if they have the name of a local S2 doctor.

    @gipper13 what type of medical doctor you require?

It seems that the type of doctor he requires is one specially licensed to write special S2 descriptions for medication that they consider controlled substance here. Now, there is an app that we have used here which can be very useful for expats in the Phillipines. It is called Now Serving by Serious MD and we can vouch for it and have used it to arrange visits to doctor specialist's offices, for online consultations and believe it or not, house calls. That wasn't his question but I think it is useful information for expats because it works very well. The doctor can even send med techs to your house for urine and blood tests and send you prescriptions. You pay through the app. if you do not visit the office. But as to his question, it has been answered by other commenters. Only docs with S2 can get you narcotics.

Its Interesting living here, a few days ago my wife went to pick up a med for me at Watson, they informed her that they could not fill the perscription because it had expired and needed to be updated. So me being me and not wanting to go through all the bs of traveling,  parking,  waiting, etc in order to update,

I decided to go to Watson’s website and try to order from there. I filled everything out where again it was stated perscription required, paid online and clicked Order.

Received a confirmation email and then to my surprise next day received phone call from watson informing me my that order cant be delivered to my home but to my local LBC. Great I told them. Soon after I received confirmation email stating order had been shipped and a few days later I picked up at LBC, no proof of prescription was ever asked for...not sure if that will be the case a second time but i will try this again in a few weeks.

But if you find that you actually need the prescription, Im just down the road from you in Tagaytay, just go to the outpatient at TMC and you will be able to get one there in a few hours. Better yet Im sure there are a few hospital outpatient clinics there in Dasma, just find closest one and set a few hours aside...

Furthermore, dont waste your time in looking for a general practitioner, there are none here. Everything is specialized, you will need to make a appointment with a doctor who specializes in your ailment. For example if you needed Diabetic and Osteoporosis meds, you cant just go to one doc here as in the US, you will need two seperate appointments with the specialist, etc

It is interesting living here vehicross that's for sure. I have the same doctor here for 8/9 years in the Lorma private hospital,,,,,, interesting as he can diagnose an ailment, shove a camera down your throat or perform minor surgery, Australia I would need to see 2 specialists after the doctors visit, here seems to be a one stop shop and not expensive, I had an operation on my foot that required a large incision, open wound with no stitches and advised to bathe the wound twice a day in the boiled juice from Guava leaves, worked perfectly.

Difference here is no appointment, just rock up but generally less than an hours wait and the docs bill is P400 including his nurse.

Cheers, Steve.

vehicross100,

I recently placed an online prescription order from Southstar Drug. The prescription was clearly dated five years ago.

I had free delivery the same day. (Free delivery for orders more than P1499.) Their prices is no more or less than Mercury or Watsons.

         I was lucky, when I first came for 6 months back in 2017, my US doctor was prescribing Metforman for my type 2 diabeties.  I could buy it over the counter at any drug stores in Vigan.  Now I am taking Amlodipine for my blood pressure.  It is also available over the counter at a slightly higher price.  In the USA 3 months worth costs $10.

@Enzyte Bob

True that, I have used SouthStar also...

    vehicross100,I recently placed an online prescription order from Southstar Drug. The prescription was clearly dated five years ago.I had free delivery the same day. (Free delivery for orders more than P1499.) Their prices is no more or less than Mercury or Watsons.        -@Enzyte Bob

My understanding is:

Drugs, even if prescribed by a doctor, do not need the prescription if not S2 narcotics or anti-biotics. My experience is that, if it is S2 they will markup the prescription slip as "filled" and stamp it all over with notices saying it can't be refilled.