Existing OTC medicines access paves the way for sales on trains and planes, independent pharmacists have said.

MHRA proposals to sell medicines on trains and planes opened up the broader issue of where and when medicines should be sold, pharmacists said this week. But with medicines already being sold in discount stores and petrol stations it would be difficult to challenge the move, they argued.

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	The medicines watchdog launched a consultation last week to change medicines legislation to allow the sale of general sale list (GSL) medicines on trains and planes as part of the government's Red Tape Challenge to cut bureaucracy.

The move could have benefits for public health as travellers would be able to buy nicotine replacement products on a long-haul flight or treat minor ailments if the rules were relaxed, the MHRA said.

"There is a much broader issue about where and when medicines should be sold and how we maintain the safe supply to the patient," Claire Ward, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacy Federation said.

"But given that discount stores and similar places can sell these medicines it would be irrational to argue that planes and trains should not do so too," she added.

Hertfordshire contractor Graham Phillips said he believed "as a matter of principle" that all medicines should be sold at a pharmacy. However GSL medicines were available in petrol stations and it was therefore hard to argue against the move, he added.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society said it would be submitting its response to the consultation, but spokesperson Neal Patel warned that the society considered pharmacists to be the "best source of advice about medicines".

The MHRA is consulting pharmacy bodies and wholesalers as well as transport companies and has asked them to share the results of their own market research to reveal whether there is the demand for on-board GSL medicines.

The consultation runs until June 11.