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One in 10 online pharmacies have had their online presence ‘cloned’ by criminals trying to “trick” patients into buying counterfeit weight loss drugs online, a National Pharmacy Association survey has found. 

The NPA, which surveyed 100 online pharmacies, accused social media companies of being “asleep at the wheel” in failing to prevent the sale of counterfeit medicines, warning that criminals have copied companies’ online branding as well as regulators’ logos such as those of the General Pharmaceutical Council and Care Quality Commission. 

The trade body has written to the Government and regulators to share “numerous reports of open sales of unregulated and unregistered rugs peddled as weight loss as weight loss or beauty treatments on social media”. 

In one instance reported by the NPA, an online pharmacy found one of their patients had ordered a GLP-1 medicine from an illicit provider and received a pen with no needle that was labelled for another patient. 

Ninety-six per cent of affected companies said they had received an “insufficient response” from social media companies, while 92 per cent said the MHRA failed to respond adequately. 

The NPA is calling for stronger online safeguards, including the Government introducing a new ‘.pharmacy’ domain name “to clearly identify regulated pharmacy websites”. 

NPA board member and online pharmacy owner Sehar Shahid said: “I know first-hand how distressing it is to see criminals posing as regulated pharmacists to try and trick patients into buying counterfeit medicines.  

“Medicines from unregulated providers may be faked, swapped for an alternative medicine or not meet the strict regulatory standards we have in the UK. 

“Patients should be wary of any provider that is offering medicines at a price that is too good to be true and are not offering any consultations before prescribing.

“Social media companies have been asleep at the wheel and have not done enough to prevent a booming market for counterfeit medicines to flourish on their platforms.

“Although the MHRA works hard, their efforts are a drop in the ocean to tackle what is fast becoming a sophisticated criminal enterprise. 

“We need tougher enforcement action and the Government should put stronger safeguards in place to help patients clearly identify regulated providers online.”

GPhC chief executive Kathie Cashell said: “The sale of counterfeit medicines through fake online pharmacies or social media platforms is a major threat to patient safety.  

“As the pharmacy regulator, we are working closely with the MHRA, to support them to take action against fake online pharmacies and counterfeit medicines.  We refer any illegal sales of medicine we identify onto the MHRA and provide support and advice to legitimate pharmacies who have been victims of cloning. We took the decision to discontinue our own internet pharmacy logo scheme earlier this year, in response to the risk of the logo being cloned by criminals.

“This is a complex issue that will require collaboration across regulators, governments and other stakeholders to ensure the right action is taken so that people can safely access legitimate pharmacies online and are protected from criminals selling counterfeit medicines.  We have already begun exploring potential solutions that we and others could put in place and welcome the suggested actions put forward by the NPA.

“As a next step, we are planning to bring together regulators, other stakeholders, and parliamentarians together at a roundtable in the House of Commons in June to discuss further actions to tackle this issue. We will also shortly launch a public campaign highlighting the risks of using fake pharmacies and explaining how to keep safe when going online for medicines. 

“All legitimate pharmacies must be registered with the GPhC and meet our standards. Before making any purchases we would urge the public to always check if an online pharmacy is on our pharmacy register."