Britain’s pharmacies regulator is tightening rules for online pharmacies’ prescribing obesity drugs, ordering them to make changes to prevent people from receiving drugs that could cause them harm.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) says that the prescriber cannot base prescribing decisions on the information provided in an online questionnaire alone.
Instead, the prescriber has to independently verify the information the person provides, either through timely two-way communication with the person, accessing the person’s clinical records, or contacting the person’s GP, their regular prescriber, or a third-party provider.
This will help prevent people they say from providing false information to obtain medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them.
Before providing medicines for weight-management, the prescriber now has to independently verify the person’s weight, height and/or body mass index, to support safer decision making and ensure that the supply is appropriate for the person.
Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive at the GPhC, said:
“The message of this updated guidance is clear; online pharmacies should only supply a medicine if the prescriber has had an appropriate consultation with the person, and has made sure they have all the necessary information to check if that medicine is safe and suitable for them. For high-risk medicines, online pharmacies need to put even more safeguards in place, including always independently verifying the information provided by the person before supplying that medicine.
“We have listened carefully to feedback we had from organisations representing pharmacy and patients, and have further strengthened the guidance, including in relation to the steps a prescriber has to take before prescribing a high-risk medicine.
