Can you use a foreign prescription to buy prescription medicine in Da Nang, or do you need a local doctor’s prescription?

One traveler noted that in Da Nang, just like in Russia, a prescription stomach medication was sold without anyone asking for a prescription. However, for antidepressants and narcotic-containing drugs, pharmacies are stricter and will ask for a prescription — but a Russian prescription (even translated) carries little real weight for them, since what matters is the active ingredient and how local staff choose to interpret the document.

If it is hard to find the exact medicine in Da Nang, travelers suggest not relying entirely on local substitutes. For kidney medication, the chat noted that options in Asia can be limited, so many people bring a supply from home in advance.

To look for an equivalent medicine in Da Nang, it is better to have a prescription that lists the active ingredient in Latin script. Local doctors and pharmacies can work with that more easily than with a prescription written only in Russian.

If a pharmacy does not accept a foreign prescription directly, one practical option is to visit a local doctor in Da Nang and get a local prescription for the same medicine or an equivalent based on the active ingredient.