Regulation

breaking news

BREAKING: MHRA seized £40m in illegally traded drugs last year

 
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The medicines watchdog has revealed that it seized more than 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines amounting to a “potential street value” of more than £40 million in 2024.

Trainee pharmacist fined after ‘antisemitic’ social media post

 
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A trainee pharmacist has been fined more than £1,000 after pleading guilty to posting a “grossly offensive” and “hateful antisemitic” message on social media.

Draft GPhC rules ‘leave door open’ for unsafe weight loss scripts

 
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Independent pharmacy leaders have warned that draft GPhC guidance allows patients to “inappropriately access weight loss injections”, while representatives for the largest pharmacies have said that no additional regulations are needed.


GPhC warns professor for asking student to ‘view a film together’

 
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An assistant professor has been warned for “entirely inappropriate” conduct, including instant messaging a student exam marks early and asking them to watch a movie with him.

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AI eBay algorithm blocks two million illegal medicine sales

 
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Multinational e-commerce company eBay worked “closely” with the MHRA last year to block almost two million unregulated medicine “violations” before they were sold to the public, C+D has learned.

Strep A: Toddler died after ‘delay’ in receiving out-of-stock antibiotics, coroner warns

 
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A toddler with a Strep A infection was given antibiotics too late after a pharmacist could not issue alternative medication during shortages due to restrictions, a coroner has found.


RPS: AI can ‘improve safe and effective’ use of medicines

 
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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has flagged the potential for AI to be used in Pharmacy First and has stressed that healthcare regulation “must not stifle” AI innovation.

‘Significant disappointments’: DH rejects generic substitution recs

 
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CPE has said that while it is “positive” that the government has “partially” accepted the majority of recommendations in the health and social care committee’s (HSCC) pharmacy report, there are still “some significant disappointments”.

Pharmacy worker jailed after ‘clandestine relationship’ with prison inmate

 
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A Doncaster pharmacy worker has been “rumbled” after she created a “false identity” to speak to a prison inmate and steal medication.


Pharmacy student struck off for ‘fabricating’ assessments

 
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A postgraduate pharmacy student has been removed from the register after she “falsified” documents during her studies, “invented reasons for absences” and made “widespread clinical failures” during her time of employment.

GPhC and NHSE announce ‘unique’ new pharmacy tech fellowship

 
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The GPhC has announced that it is “co-hosting a national pharmacy technician fellowship” with NHS England “for the first time”, with applications opening this month.

CPE ‘battling to get details right’ as OPD reforms come into force

 
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Pharmacy bosses have stressed that pharmacists must use their “professional judgment” before using new original pack dispensing (OPD) rules but that they will not be reimbursed in line with dispensing until IT systems are updated.


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‘New front line’: MHRA removes 150 social media posts selling fake weight loss drugs

 
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Social media has become the new “front line” for the sale of counterfeit weight loss drugs with 150 online posts “actively” selling them targeted by the MHRA last year, C+D has learned.

Government set to ‘introduce’ hub-and-spoke legislation in 2025

 
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The pharmacy minister has revealed government plans to implement hub-and-spoke legislation this year.

Pharmacist suspended for sending Xanax ‘to Africa for charitable causes’

 
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The regulator has issued a year’s suspension in an “unusual case” that saw a pharmacist send prescription only medicines (POMs) “hidden in a barrel with clothes and shoes” to Sierra Leone.


CVS slapped with nationwide lawsuit over ‘unlawful’ opioid prescriptions

 
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The US DOJ has filed a lawsuit against CVS alleging its “actions helped to fuel the opioid crisis” as it “prioritized corporate profits over patient safety”.

GPhC greenlights controversial education and inspection reforms

 
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The pharmacy regulator has revealed that it will go forward with some changes to pharmacy education quality checks, despite “long-standing concerns” raised during its consultation.

Superintendent’s FtP restored after patient data, methadone and syringe ‘fly-tipped’

 
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The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has found that the fitness to practice (FtP) of a pharmacist who was in charge when patient confidentiality was breached by the “fly-tipping” of medical waste in an “unsecure location” is “no longer impaired”.


Pharmacy tech struck off for rape of ‘vulnerable’ 13-year-old girl

 
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A pharmacy technician has been removed from the register after he “took advantage” of a teenager who he messaged on Snapchat and gave cannabis “to facilitate the offence of rape”, the regulator has revealed.

GPhC mulls ‘video call’ inspections for relocated pharmacies

 
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The pharmacy regulator has suggested that its inspection of some bricks-and-mortar pharmacies be delayed, amid attempts to focus efforts on “pharmacy types known to present greater risk”.