Digital
The medicines regulator has chided Lloyds Pharmacy Online Doctor for its advertising around weight loss medicines, while another online pharmacy has landed in hot water for using “content creators” to promote the drugs.
The pharmacy regulator has revealed that it is “not appropriate to solely use a photograph or pre-recorded video” to verify patient information when supplying weight loss drugs – contrary to claims by Chemist4U.
The online pharmacy has warned that new General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) guidance may hinder patient access to “one of the most important medications released in our lifetime”.
GPs have been urged to “not ignore” requests from online pharmacies to disclose patient information when weight loss drugs are being prescribed to avoid becoming “vulnerable to criticism and medico-legal process”, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) has said.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has warned that newly updated online pharmacy rules “could still introduce significant risk”, after representatives for the largest pharmacies said that no additional regulations were needed.
The Northern Irish (NI) pharmacy regulator has proposed removing the “blanket” recognition currently on offer to pharmacists from “a number of countries” wishing to register with it, alongside plans to update its online pharmacy standards.
Online pharmacies “cannot” prescribe based on online questionnaires alone and must “independently verify” patients’ weight and height before prescribing weight loss drugs, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced.
The medicines watchdog has revealed that it seized more than 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines amounting to a “potential street value” of more than £40 million in 2024.
Independent pharmacy leaders have warned that draft GPhC guidance allows patients to “inappropriately access weight loss injections”, while representatives for the largest pharmacies have said that no additional regulations are needed.
A coroner has warned that the lack of “communication between primary and secondary care” may lead to the “early death” of more patients, after an NHS trust was not made aware of a pharmacy’s warning.