The National Pharmacy Association has today warned the General Pharmaceutical Council that current regulation of online pharmacies providing weight loss medicines and its proposed guidance published last year fails to address risks to patients’ safety.

The NPA said “tougher regulation” was needed “to protect patients amid a prediction of a new year’s boom in demand” for weight loss treatments.

Last week, IQVIA told the Healthcare Distribution Association conference there will be a surge in obesity drug launches in 2026 and the government has said it wants to make weight loss injection Mounjaro available on the NHS to help unemployed people back to work.

In its guidance published in September last year, the GPhC said weight loss medicines should not be supplied online without safeguards, including “robust processes to check the identity” of the patient and “two-way communication” between the prescriber and patient.

This, the GPhC said, would allow both to “ask questions to get the information they need to deliver safe care” through face-to-face conversations, video chats and end-to-end encrypted online platforms.

The GPhC’s guidance also said “appropriate steps” must be taken to confirm the suitability of medicines that require “ongoing monitoring,” such as contacting the patient’s GP, regular prescriber or third-party provider and checking their clinical records.

However, the NPA warned “greater consultation with patients” is needed before weight loss jabs and “other high-risk medication” is dispensed online.

“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,” the NPA said.

It said it was concerned some patients have been wrongly prescribed weight loss injections, including people who have had eating disorders or not been in the licensed body mass index categories and have low BMIs.

This, the NPA said, was “putting them at greater risk of severe adverse effects.”

“(The 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,” it said.

“We suggest including an expectation that a prescriber should have a two-way dialogue with the patient so 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 also said regulation needed to effectively cover pharmacies dispensing weight loss medicines or offering injectable medicines as part of private weight loss programmes.

IQVIA said medicines distributed through private healthcare channels was increasing and the biggest driver in private health was weight management. 

GPhC: We will issue updated version of guidance shortly

The GPhC told Independent Community Pharmacist it will issue an “updated version” of its guidance “shortly which will set out additional safeguards around high-risk medicines, including medicines used for weight management.”

“We require all pharmacies, including those operating online, to ensure that the way in which pharmacy services are delivered safeguards the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public,” it said.

“We have listened carefully to feedback we had on key changes to the updated guidance.”

Company Chemists’ Association chief executive Malcolm Harrison said his members did "not see the need for any additional regulation.”

"CCA members have been remotely providing weight loss medicines to patients for many years with a proven track record of safety. When current regulation and guidance is followed, the prescribing and supply of these medicines is safe and meets a clear patient need."