Lost Prescription: What You Can Do Now — from E-Prescriptions to Out-of-Hours Care

The printout has vanished from your jacket pocket, your health insurance card is lying somewhere on the train, and there are two tablets left in the blister — on a Friday evening. The good news: an e-prescription itself cannot get lost. And even if the prescription really is gone or the practice cannot be reached, there are clear routes to your medicine. This guide shows you what to do depending on the type of prescription, who can help you in the evening and at weekends, and what has changed at the pharmacy since July 2026.

1. First, work out: what exactly is missing?

“I’ve lost my prescription” can mean very different things. Before you pick up the phone, it is worth spending a minute sorting things out — because the solution depends on what is missing.

How much time you have depends above all on how long your supply will last and how critical an interruption would be for your medicine. A few days without vitamin D is something quite different from an empty insulin pen. More on this in section 6.

2. E-prescription: why it can’t really get lost

Since 2024, the e-prescription has been the standard for prescription-only medicines in statutory health insurance. The practice signs the prescription electronically and stores it on a secure server in the telematics infrastructure (Germany’s protected health data network), the so-called Fachdienst. The pharmacy retrieves it from there — regardless of whether you insert your health insurance card, use the e-prescription app or present a printout.^¹ How the three ways of redeeming it work in detail is explained in the guide E-prescription: redeeming, validity and problems.

For the case of loss, this means: the printout is not a prescription in the old sense, merely an access key to the digital prescription. If it gets lost, the prescription itself is unaffected. The pharmacists’ associations put it roughly like this in their guidance for pharmacies: an e-prescription cannot get lost, and a lost printout can be reprinted at any time.^²

1. The simplest route: go to a pharmacy with your health insurance card. Once it is inserted, the pharmacy can see all your open e-prescriptions — the printout is not needed.
2. With the app: if you use the e-prescription app, you can see the prescription there and send it to a pharmacy or show the code.
3. A new printout: if you need the slip — for example because someone else is collecting the medicine — ask the practice for a new printout.

And what if someone finds the printout?

The code on the printout works like a key: whoever presents it can redeem the prescription. The risk is limited, because the finder would gain little from it. Still, there are two options if you want to be on the safe side: as long as the prescription has not yet been redeemed, the practice can delete it and issue a new one. If you use the e-prescription app, you can also delete an unredeemed prescription yourself there — though you will then need a new one from the practice.^¹

3. Health insurance card or phone lost

Your electronic health card is gone

Report the loss to your health insurer as soon as possible — by phone, via the app or through the online portal. The insurer blocks the old card and sends you a new one. A blocked card can no longer be used at a practice or pharmacy, not even by someone who finds it. Until the new card arrives:

• Redeem e-prescriptions via a printout — ask your practice to print out any open prescriptions.
• Use the app if possible — with many insurers, you can also sign in to the e-prescription app with the digital identity (GesundheitsID) from your health insurer’s app, without any card at all.
• A replacement certificate for doctor’s appointments — on request, your insurer will issue you with proof of your insurance cover.

Your smartphone is gone

Your prescriptions are not stored on the phone but on the server. With your health insurance card you can redeem them at any pharmacy. You simply set the app up again on your new device. If you are worried about your health data, lock the lost device using your operating system’s functions and change the login details of your health apps.

4. Paper prescription lost: statutory and private prescriptions

Paper has not disappeared completely. The classic statutory prescription form (Muster 16) remains in place as a fallback procedure — for example in the event of technical faults or on home visits, and it is still partly used in the supply of care homes.^² Privately insured patients also often still receive a paper prescription, depending on the practice and the insurer.

Unlike with an e-prescription, a lost paper prescription really is gone. This is how to proceed:

1. Call the practice and report the loss. Give the medicine, the strength and the date it was issued.
2. Get a new prescription — usually as an e-prescription. Whether and how the practice documents the loss is up to the practice.
3. Don’t redeem the old prescription if it turns up again. Hand it in at the practice or destroy it.

For people with statutory health insurance, the new prescription usually costs nothing extra; the usual co-payment (Zuzahlung) is only due, as always, when you redeem it. For private prescriptions, the practice may charge a fee for reissuing it. What else you should know about co-payments and when an exemption is possible is covered in the guide Co-payments and exemptions.

5. A special case: narcotics prescriptions and the T-Rezept

Strong painkillers from the opioid group, methylphenidate for ADHD and certain other active substances are subject to German narcotics law. They are prescribed on a special, consecutively numbered yellow form (BtM-Rezept), which comes with strict documentation requirements.^³ For certain active substances with a high risk to the unborn child, such as lenalidomide, there is also the T-Rezept. Both types of prescription are still mostly issued on paper at present; the mandatory electronic version is only planned for the coming years.

• Report it immediately: inform the issuing practice about the loss straight away so that it can document it.
• Mind the short deadline: BtM prescriptions are only valid for a few days. Don’t wait for the slip to turn up again.
• Report theft: if the prescription or medicines were stolen, for example along with a handbag, reporting it to the police can make sense — ask the practice what it needs.
• No do-it-yourself solutions: getting a substitute through acquaintances or online offers without a prescription is not only illegal but, with these active substances, also dangerous.

Whether and when a new prescription is possible is decided by the practice. With opioids and stimulants it is understandably cautious — expect questions, and don’t take them personally.

6. Running out of medicine: emergency supply step by step

The real problem is rarely the prescription but the empty supply. Depending on the time of day and the urgency, there are different places to turn to:

The out-of-hours medical service on 116117 can be reached nationwide around the clock and free of charge.^⁴ It is the right place to turn if, outside surgery hours, you need a prescription for a medicine that cannot wait until the next working day.

Prescription passed to the pharmacy by phone

If the practice can be reached but you cannot get there, there is an often overlooked route: if the use of a prescription-only medicine cannot be postponed, the prescribing doctor may inform the pharmacy of the prescription by phone or by another suitable means. The pharmacy verifies the identity of the practice and hands over the medicine; the prescription is sent on without delay. This is set out in the Ordinance on the Prescription of Medicinal Products (Arzneimittelverschreibungsverordnung, AMVV).^⁵

New since July 2026: bridging supply at the pharmacy

With the pharmacy reform, a new rule in the German Medicinal Products Act (Arzneimittelgesetz, AMG) has applied since 2 July 2026: in urgent exceptional cases, pharmacists may hand over a prescription-only medicine from your regular medication once and without a prescription so that an ongoing treatment is not interrupted. This is called the bridging supply (Anschlussversorgung).^⁶ The conditions are strict:

• Long-standing treatment: the medicine has already been prescribed to you by a doctor for at least three quarters — and this must be verifiable, for example via the medication list in your electronic patient record (ePA), the customer file at your regular pharmacy, a medication plan from your doctor or a doctor’s letter. A single pack or your own statement alone is usually not enough.
• No delay possible: continuing the treatment must not be able to wait.
• Smallest pack, once only: the smallest pack the pharmacy has in stock is handed over. The same medicine can only be handed over again once a prescription has been presented in the meantime.
• You pay yourself: the bridging supply is not covered by health insurance — you pay the pharmacy price yourself. A prescription submitted afterwards does not retrospectively turn it into an insurance benefit.
• No entitlement: the decision is made by the pharmacist after examining the individual case.

You should not simply pause these medicines

With some active substances, even a short interruption can have serious consequences. If one of these is affected, sort out a replacement the same day — via the out-of-hours service if necessary:

• Insulin in type 1 diabetes — without insulin there is a risk of a life-threatening metabolic derailment.
• Medicines for epilepsy — the risk of seizures can rise after they are left out.
• Long-term cortisone therapy — the body has reduced its own production; why an abrupt end is dangerous is explained in Stopping cortisone.
• Parkinson’s medicines — an interruption can quickly worsen mobility.
• Blood thinners, for example for atrial fibrillation or after a thrombosis — the risk of clots rises.
• Baclofen, certain blood pressure medicines and immunosuppressants after a transplant — withdrawal or rebound reactions are a risk here.

Antidepressants should not be stopped abruptly either, because discontinuation symptoms can occur; more on this in the guide Stopping SSRIs.

7. Prescription or medicines lost while travelling

Within Germany, the e-prescription is a real advantage: your GP practice can issue a repeat prescription, and you redeem it with your health insurance card at any pharmacy you like — even 600 kilometres away. Outside surgery hours, 116117 helps on holiday too.

Abroad it is more complicated. A German e-prescription usually cannot be redeemed there. You will generally need a local doctor, and you often have to pay the costs yourself at first. The following help in that situation:

• A medication plan with active substance names — brand names differ from country to country, the active substance does not.
• A doctor’s letter or certificate about your diagnosis and regular medication, ideally in English.
• The emergency number of your travel health insurance — many can put you in touch with local doctors.
• A split supply — divide your medicines between your hand luggage and a second bag, so that one loss doesn’t affect everything.

How to prepare before you leave is shown in the guides Medications when travelling and Travel first-aid kit.

8. When it is not the prescription but the tablets that are gone

Bag stolen, pack left behind at the hotel, tablets dropped down the sink: then a new printout won’t help, only a new prescription. Call the practice and explain the situation. Whether the new prescription is issued at the expense of the health insurer or as a private prescription is decided by the practice; expect the co-payment to be due again when you redeem it.

For narcotics, the strict rules from section 5 apply here too. In the event of theft, you should report it to the police and offer the practice a copy of the report.

9. Prevention: how to avoid getting into difficulty in the first place

Most prescription emergencies are not caused by the loss but by planning that is too tight. A few habits take the pressure off:

• Reorder early: order a repeat prescription when you still have tablets for about two weeks — not at the last blister. That leaves a buffer for the practice’s holidays or supply problems.
• Ask about a multiple prescription: for stable long-term treatment, the practice can issue an e-prescription as a multiple prescription (Mehrfachverordnung) — with up to four redemptions within a maximum of one year.^² Whether this is an option for you is decided by the practice.
• Choose a regular pharmacy: if your medication is documented there, it is quicker to prove in an emergency what you have been taking and since when.
• Keep your medication plan up to date: with active substance, strength and dosage — the practice, the out-of-hours service and the pharmacy ask for exactly this. How to do it is shown in Create a medication plan.
• Always carry your health insurance card: it is the most reliable way to redeem prescriptions and needs neither battery nor signal.
• Factor in shortages: if your medicine is hard to get, plan with even more lead time. Background in the guide Medication shortages.

For people on critical medicines such as insulin or antiepileptics, it can also make sense to talk to the practice about a small reserve supply. And in an emergency, anyone treating you should be able to see quickly what you take — a medical emergency card helps with that.

10. How brite helps you when the prescription is missing

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