Tougher rules on weight loss jabs after people with eating disorders get prescriptions

People wanting to buy weight loss jabs online are to face stricter checks after some with eating disorders were given prescriptions.

A patient questionnaire will no longer be enough, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has told online pharmacies.

Nor will an email chat or people sending in photos of themselves.

Instead, checks on someone seeking jabs such as Wegovy or Mounjaro will include verifying the person’s body mass index (BMI) in a video consultation, in person, or via GP or medical records.

“Verifying information through a phone call would not be appropriate when supplying medication for weight loss,” new guidelines state.

In addition, the prescriber should “actively” share all relevant information about the prescription with other health professionals involved in the care of the person making the request.

“If the person does not have a regular prescriber, such as a GP, or if there is no consent to share information, the prescriber should then decide whether it is safe to prescribe,” the guidelines say.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is among those which called for more stringent rules after it became aware of people being prescribed the drugs when their weight was already low or they had an eating disorder.

Weight loss jabs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by reducing food cravings.

People with a high BMI can get them on the NHS, while hundreds of thousands of people use online pharmacies.

If pharmacists do not stick to the new guidance they could face investigations or inspections.

In addition, conditions could be placed on a pharmacy and an improvement plan implemented.

Weight loss jabs have also now been added to the list of “high-risk” medicines requiring extra safeguards.

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said inspections and investigations had thrown up “too many cases of medicines being supplied inappropriately online and putting people at risk”.

He added: “This updated guidance will support online pharmacies to protect their patients, and we expect them to act now to make sure these safeguards are in place.”

The GPhC said it is working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Advertising Standards Authority to tackle inappropriate advertising and promotions.

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Nick Kaye, chairman of the NPA, which represents about 6,000 independent community pharmacies, said he hoped the updated advice would “help to protect the safety of patients”.

He added: “It is important to note that the vast majority of pharmacies, including online sellers, already adhere to good practise in this area.”

Phil Day, superintendent pharmacist at Pharmacy2U, said: “As the UK’s largest digital pharmacy, we support any move to improve patient safety, and have been working with the GPhC, CQC and other medical professional bodies to ensure that the appropriate safeguards are in place for this new generation of weight loss drugs.

“Further clarity on the provision and advertising of these services is a welcome step in the right direction for the market, and we are pleased to state that we meet the new GPhC guidance.”