The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), representing independent community pharmacies, has called for tougher regulation of the online sale of weight loss jabs to protect patients amid a prediction of a new year’s boom in demand.
The association argues that current regulation “leaves the door open for medicines to be supplied without appropriate patient consultation and access to patient records.”
It has urged the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to require greater consultation with patients before dispensing weight loss jabs and other high-risk medication online.
The association stressed that online sellers should not just rely on information provided in online questionnaires but also gather important historical medical information before a full two-way consultation between prescriber
and patient.
Draft guidelines on weight loss medication
The GPhC proposed changes to their current guidance for online pharmacies to improve patient safety. It launched a consultation on the revised guidance on 17 September, inviting feedback until 9 October 2024 from the public,
carers, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, other healthcare professionals, and pharmacy owners.
In its response to proposed guidelines on prescribing weight loss medication, the NPA highlighted critical gaps, stating that proposed safeguards “still leaves the door open for medicines to be prescribed/supplied without
appropriate two-way direct patient consultation and access to patient records for a full clinical picture particularly where high-risk medicines are involved, and the risk to patient safety remains”.