Short answer. Yes. Issuing a fake drug prescription is a serious crime under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. Anyone who, without legal authority, makes or issues a document purporting to be a prescription for a dangerous drug faces life imprisonment and a very large fine — so this is far more than a paperwork offence.
What the law says
any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription or any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug
RA 9165, Section 19 — Unlawful Prescription Of Drugs. Read the full provision →
What the law punishes
Section 19 of Republic Act No. 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, targets the false prescription. It punishes any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription or any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug. Two ideas do the work. The document must purport to be a prescription for a dangerous drug, and the person doing it must be acting without legal authority. It is the pretence — a writing that dresses itself up as a genuine prescription — coupled with the lack of authority, that the crime is built on. The paper looks official; the person had no right to produce it.
The penalty is severe
This is not treated as a minor forgery. The provision carries the penalty of life imprisonment together with a fine reaching into the millions of pesos. In practice, the death penalty written into the older text is no longer imposed in the Philippines, so the effective maximum is life imprisonment — but that alone shows how gravely the law views the offence. The reason is the danger behind the paper. A fake prescription is the doorway to diverting powerful, controlled substances into the wrong hands, and the heavy penalty is meant to shut that doorway firmly.
Who this binds — not only doctors
The provision reaches any person, not just licensed physicians. Someone who forges a doctor's prescription pad, fills in a stolen blank, or otherwise conjures a writing that pretends to be a valid prescription can be prosecuted even without any medical credentials. And a licensed professional is not automatically safe either: what matters is authority to issue the particular prescription. Producing a prescription one is not authorised by law to make brings the same section into play. The offence is about the false authority behind the document, wherever the person sits.
What it does not cover
A real prescription, issued by someone actually authorised to issue it, is lawful and outside this section — the crime lives in the pretence and the absence of authority. An honest clerical slip in a genuine prescription is a different matter from deliberately creating a writing that purports to be one. This provision also sits alongside other offences in the same Act, which separately punish possession, sale, and use of dangerous drugs, and general laws on falsification of documents may apply on top. If you are facing an accusation like this, the details of authority and intent matter enormously, and prompt legal advice is important.
One caution on the penalty
Although this section of Republic Act No. 9165 lists the death penalty, that penalty can no longer be imposed. Republic Act No. 9346 (2006) prohibited the death penalty and provides reclusion perpetua in its place. The rest of the section remains in force — the acts it punishes are still crimes and still carry heavy penalties — but wherever the text says death, read reclusion perpetua as the maximum penalty a court may actually impose today.