Internet pharmacy

Pharmacists found selling benzodiazepines to ‘criminal market’, discovers MHRA

UK regulators and police are carrying out a large-scale investigation into the diversion of prescription-only drugs into the criminal market following the arrest of two pharmacists based in Yorkshire. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) received a tip-off from enforc…

Homeopathic teething products licensed in UK are safe, says medicines regulator

Homeopathic teething products licensed in the UK are safe, says the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, after the US Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning about US products.…

Pharmacy2U and Chemist Direct merge in £40m deal

Two online pharmacy companies have merged in a £40m deal to become the sector’s leading digital pharmacy business in the UK, reaching 1.5 million customers…

Concerns around buying emergency hormonal contraception online

The practice of online prescribing and buying medicines on the internet is expanding and it can play a positive role in providing care for our ever growing population. However, concerns have been raised at the news that some women are buying emergency hormonal contraceptive (EHC) pills from overseas…

Distance selling pharmacies need to be better regulated

Recent comments from Keith Ridge, England’s chief pharmaceutical officer, and the much publicised open letter of 17 December 2015 to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), the negotiating body for community pharmacy contractors in England, suggested the future of pharma…

Pharmacy2U’s commercial director suspended from the register over data sales

The General Pharmaceutical Council has suspended Julian Harrison, commercial director of the online pharmacy Pharmacy2U, from the register for three months for selling patient data to third parties.…

Drug wholesalers vent concerns about government’s hub and spoke plans

A trade body representing drug wholesalers who distribute more than 92% of NHS medicines has warned that the full implications of hub and spoke technology have yet to be determined and its widescale implementation risks reducing the quality and safety of dispensing. Responding to the UK govern…

Pharmacist-led telephone advice ‘improves medication adherence’

Personalised telephone advice from a pharmacist can improve medication adherence in patients with long-term conditions, research shows.…

Dame Sally Davies and Keith Ridge urge review of gonorrhoea treatment protocols

GPs and internet pharmacies that provide access to online prescribing services should review their gonorrhoea treatment protocols to ensure they comply with national recommendations, say chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies and chief pharmaceutical officer Keith Ridge.…

Service disruption at Pharmacy2U prompts action by NHS England and pharmacy regulator

Technical problems being experienced by the online pharmacy company Pharmacy2U have prompted NHS England to write to GPs and other primary care service providers to warn them about the “unacceptable” disruption to services.…