Rules tightened after those with eating disorders were prescribed weight-loss jabs

People will no longer be able to get weight-loss jabs after completing a simple online questionnaire, as the pharmacy regulator tightened prescription rules to prevent medicines from being supplied “inappropriately”.

- RACHEL CLUN JANE KIRBY

The change comes after groups including the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) called for tougher rules after they learnt of people being wrongly prescribed the drugs who already had a low body weight or those who previously had eating disorders.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said it was responding to those concerns following reports that some people were getting hold of the drugs without thorough checks, and some online pharmacies have set targets for how many prescriptions should be processed per hour.

The GPhC has told online pharmacies they can now only prescribe the weight-loss drugs following a proper two-way consultation with the patient, and they must verify the patient’s body mass index via either a video consultation, an in-person assessment or by accessing medical records.

The move, which is intended to make sure jabs such as Wegovy or Mounjaro are prescribed safely, means it will no longer be enough to prescribe the drugs following email correspondence, a phone call, from questionnaires, or by people sending in photos of themselves.