Two websites have been reported as fake online pharmacies after using a hospital’s address as their NHS registration details.
Both websites appeared to sell prescription-only medication (POMs) along with drugs for erectile dysfunction, fluid retention and allergy treatments.
Both FrontDoorChemist and Pharmacy-Click used the address of Grimsby’s Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital as its NHS registration details.
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NHS Humber Health Partnership chief pharmacist Joanne Goode said the NHS group does “not operate any online pharmaceutical companies, even if they are claiming to be based at our hospitals”.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) told C+D neither of the pharmacies were registered with itself and it has notified the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) about the fake online pharmacies.
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“Fake pharmacies can look very convincing, but can put your health at serious risk, as the medicines they supply may not be genuine and could be unsafe,” it said.
“Before making any purchases we would urge the public to always check if an online pharmacy is on our register.”
Concerns
The NHS group were made aware of the matter on May 26 after a patient contacted the hospital pharmacy in Grimsby with a question on the medication they had bought from one of the websites.
It confirmed with C+D the websites that had been reported, but both were unavailable to access as of May 28.
Goode said the patient hadn’t received any medication from the fake online pharmacies.
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NHS Humber Health Partnership reported the websites to the GPhC, NHS Fraud, the National Cyber Security Centre, the national Report Fraud team and Humberside Police.
The police force confirmed it received a report on the fake online pharmacies, but the investigation sits with the Report Fraud team.
Goode said the NHS group is “concerned” that “people are parting with their money for medicines that do not appear”.
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“And, of course, there’s the added concern that someone using an online pharmacy may be receiving drugs which they may be allergic to or drugs which are being passed off as another drug or are actually counterfeit medicines,” she added.
It comes after a pharmacy owner told C+D she had her social media videos about weight loss services duplicated by a fake online pharmacy trying to sell weight loss drugs at half the price.
Last week, Which? said Superdrug, MedExpress, Voy and Zava all supplied GLP-1 drugs “based on false health information and a fake GP address, without seeking to verify this information first”.
