The boom in weight loss injections has prompted the General Pharmaceutical Council to update its guidance for online pharmacies.
All online pharmacies in Great Britain will have to strengthen safeguards to prevent people from receiving medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them and may cause them harm.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), the pharmacy regulator for Great Britain, has published updated guidance that all online pharmacies are expected to follow, in response to concerns identified relating to unsafe prescribing and supply of medicines such as weight-loss drugs online.
“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,” says GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin.
The move has come after the popularisation of weight-loss injections like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, specifically in the private sector.
Verified information
The updated guidance emphasises that for high-risk medicines, the prescriber cannot base prescribing decisions on the information provided in an online questionnaire alone. Instead, the prescriber has to verify the information the person provides independently, 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 from providing false information to obtain medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them.
Medicines used for weight management and medicines requiring physical examination before a prescribing decision is made have been added to the list of high-risk medicines requiring extra safeguards before being prescribed. Before providing medicines for weight management, the prescriber now has to verify the person’s weight, height and/or body mass index independently, to support safer decision-making and ensure that the supply is appropriate for the person.
