Major crackdown is launched on buying weight-loss jabs – after some online pharmacies offered them to patients with scant checks
Patients must undergo strict consultations to be prescribed weight-loss jabs online under a major crackdown starting today.
Tougher regulations to ensure drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro only go to those with a true clinical need have been announced by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
The jabs have been added to the list of ‘high-risk medicines’ that require extra safeguards – consultation in person, on video or through a GP – before they can be prescribed.
It comes after a Daily Mail investigation highlighted how some online pharmacies were dishing out the powerful medications with scant checks.
About half a million people in the UK are estimated to be using these medicines, which can help people lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight.
The majority are accessing them privately, with only 10 per cent of prescriptions coming from the NHS, amid reports of widespread misuse by those looking to lose a few pounds.
The jabs have been added to the list of ‘high-risk medicines’ that require extra safeguards – consultation in person, on video or through a GP – before they can be prescribed (file image)
Tougher regulations to ensure drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro only go to those with a true clinical need have been announced by the General Pharmaceutical Council (file image)
About half a million people in the UK are estimated to be using these medicines, which can help people lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight
The new rules mean pharmacies can no longer deem a quick medical questionnaire and photograph as sufficient proof of a patient’s eligibility for the drugs.
Instead, the prescriber must independently verify the weight, height or BMI, rather than assume information provided by the person is accurate. Clinicians must also get the patient’s consent to contact their GP about the prescription.
All relevant information about the prescription should then be ‘actively’ shared with other health professionals involved in the care of the person.
Regular checks should be made on the patient’s progress to ensure it is still appropriate to prescribe the drug.
Companies must also show there are no conflicts of interest such as offering incentives to issue prescriptions following reports of some providers setting targets for staff.
Duncan Rudkin, chief executive at the GPhC, said: ‘We know online pharmacy services can provide a very valuable service but, through our inspections and investigations, we’ve seen too many cases of medicines being supplied inappropriately online and putting people at risk.’
Those who fail to comply could face fitness to practise investigations or inspections. Action has already been taken against more than a dozen pharmacies.
It comes after the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) called for tougher rules following reports of people being wrongly prescribed the drugs, such as those with previous eating disorders or whose body weight is too low.
NPA chairman Nick Kaye said: ‘It is important to note the vast majority of pharmacies, including online sellers, already adhere to good practice in this area.’
Last year, this newspaper showed the ease of obtaining the powerful medications without clinical need, with two reporters bypassing the minimal checks of some online prescribers.
