Big Tech “must do more” to tackle illegal medicines sellers and stop people buying “counterfeit, unregulated and potentially dangerous medicines”, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has said.
A new report published by the regulator yesterday called for “stronger action” from the companies behind major search engines and social media platforms to prevent harm to patients.
It recommended “demoting or removing offending websites”, as well as “prioritising GB-registered pharmacies in search results” and showing warnings about illegal sites that regulators have identified.
Read more: Cross-sector roundtable calls for action on fake online pharmacies
It also said social media platforms should “consider how to moderate content to protect users from harm”, and that the government may need to introduce legislative and regulatory changes “to place clearer responsibilities on these companies” to act effectively.
Other recommendations included getting support from payment providers to “disrupt illegal sales”, using a common online domain name so patients can easily identify legitimate pharmacies, and having the government or NHS fund public awareness campaigns that show the risks of buying medicines from illegal online sellers.
And the report noted that there has been “limited action and engagement to date” from Big Tech companies.
Read more: Over half of people worried about counterfeit drugs, survey finds
GPhC chair Gisela Abbam said this is an “international issue” and “stronger collaboration is needed”, while GPhC chief executive Kathie Cashell called on Big Tech to “work with us and other regulators to quickly remove online sites and social media content illegally selling prescription-only medicines”.
Labour MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy Sadik Al-Hassan stressed that the recommendations are “not about demonising the online space”, but “about tackling those who abuse it for criminal gain and put patient safety at risk”.
“Likely to get worse”
The report follows a roundtable convened by the GPhC and chaired by Al-Hassan, with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Company Chemists’ Association, Department of Health and Social Care, Independent Pharmacies Association, National Pharmacy Association and Royal College of Pharmacy attending.
The roundtable raised how pharmacies are being impersonated and GPhC registration numbers misused, and noted that common medicines involved in illegal online sales include sedatives, strong painkillers, erectile dysfunction medicines and weight management drugs.
Read more: Criminals ‘cloning’ pharmacy sites to sell fake weight loss meds
According to the report, Royal College of General Practitioners clinical advisor Dr Stephen Pike warned that unregulated medicines are “likely to get worse” now that oral weight loss pills have been licensed in the UK.
And the Health and Social Care Committee raised concerns that “GLP-1 pills may be easier to counterfeit than the injections and are likely to be sold on the black market”.
Recommendations
The report also said payment providers could withhold services from websites that are not registered pharmacies, and highlighted that Visa and Mastercard already do this in the US.
The payment companies only provide services to online pharmacies registered with the Healthcare Merchant Accreditation scheme, it said, adding that the MHRA’s “not recommended” list could help stop transactions “linked to illegal sellers”.
It said raising awareness that legitimate pharmacies are on the GPhC’s register is “one of the best ways to address fake online pharmacies”, and that pharmacies should be given “better tools to identify themselves” online.
Read more: Attack of the clones: ‘Patients will fall into trap’
And it noted that over 60% of US and Canadian pharmacies use the “.pharmacy” domain to help patients “easily identify that they are using a legitimate online pharmacy” - but pointed out that this carries “a cost” for the pharmacies.
Other recommendations made in the report included improving NHS access to medicines bought frequently online, and implementing a “UK version” of the EU Common Logo Scheme that could aid clearer identification by linking logos to the GPhC’s register.
Introducing more “patient-facing authentication systems” using QR or bar codes could help patients verify a medicine’s authenticity, it added.
Read more: Fake Mounjaro pens supplied through UK online pharmacy
Al-Hassan said the APPG on Pharmacy will review the report and “consider recommendations for government, regulators and the wider pharmacy sector”.
It comes after research found that one in five UK adults have bought prescription-only medicines illegally.
And it follows two websites being reported as fake online pharmacies after using a hospital’s address as their NHS registration details.
