Pharmacies are demanding 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 National Pharmacy Association (NPA), who represent independent community pharmacies, urged the regulator to require greater consultation with patients before dispensing weight loss jabs and other high risk medication online.
The NPA warned the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) that current regulation ‘leaves the door open for medicines to be supplied without appropriate patient consultation and access to patient records.’
The NPA, which has a formal role supporting patient safety for thousands of independent pharmacies, urged regulators to require that pharmacies conduct a full two-way consultation with patients before dispensing ‘higher risk’ medication such as weight loss jabs.
This includes not just relying on an information provided in online questionnaires but also gathering important historical medical information prior to a full two-way consultation between the prescriber and patient.
Responding to draft GPhC guidelines on weight loss medication, the NPA said 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”.
“We [the NPA] suggest including an expectation that a prescriber should have a two-way dialogue with the patient so that the patient can make an informed choice about potential treatment options particularly where high-risk medicines (for example, weight-loss medicines) are being prescribed.”
The NPA have called on the regulator to ensure Mounjaro injections are prescribed by online sellers only after a full two-way consultation including the careful consideration of a patient’s medical history. A two-way consultation between prescriber and patient could include a face to face conversation or a telephone call.
The call comes amid warnings of a boom in demand for weight loss treatments this year as the government look to expand the roll out of the medication over the next few years.
Many pharmacies dispense weight loss medication or offer injectable medicines as part of private weight loss programmes. Best practice is for weight loss medication to be prescribed following a full conversation with a patient, whether virtually or in person, often as part of a programme to make long-term lifestyle changes.
The NPA have previously urged patients to avoid buying weight loss injections from unregulated online sellers, who may be selling dangerous fake counterfeit medications. whilst the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also warned patients not to purchase medicines from unregulated suppliers such as beauty salons and via social media.
Some patients who have been wrongly prescribed weight loss injections include those who have previously had eating disorders or who have not been in the licensed BMI categories and have low BMIs, putting them at greater risk of severe adverse effects.
Nick Kaye, Chair of the National Pharmacy Association said:
“Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing our country and pharmacies want to play their part in helping patients lose and maintain a healthy weight.
“Weight loss injections can play an important role in efforts to tackle obesity when prescribed as part of a carefully managed treatment programme for patients who are most in need of support.
“However, we are concerned that the current regulations allow some patients to inappropriately access weight loss injections without proper consultation or examination of historical medical records.
“There’s nothing wrong with online services in principle, but it’s important the regulator takes this opportunity to make compulsory a full consultation before dispensing high risk medication such as weight loss injections and ensure supply is prioritised for those in most clinical need, including those with type two diabetes.
“Medicines are not like ordinary goods for sale, they must be handled with great care because they have the power to harm as well as to heal.
“We urge anyone who is unsure about medicine to speak to their pharmacist for advice.”
