Doctor 'put patients at risk' by issuing prescriptions online without checking their medical histories

THE VAST MAJORITY WERE FOR OPIOIDS, TRIBUNAL HEARS

- By JOEL MOORE

A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE doctor issued more than 1,000 prescriptions - the vast majority of which were opioids - for an online pharmacy service despite not having sufficient clinical history for patients, a tribunal has found.

Dr Anthony Shonde issued the drugs over a three-month period while working for Letter Box Meds, a company which has since been closed down.

The doctor gave out prescriptions to patients across the country who had not been assessed by GPs, including some which had “red flags” for potential drug seeking, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing was told. He also prescribed opioids for one patient despite her own GP refusing the same request.

Dr Shonde, who has been employed as a consultant gastroenterologist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH) since 2009, was handed a nine-month suspension.

The doctor made more than 1,000 prescriptions, around 80 percent of which were opioids, while working for Letter Box Meds between February and April 2020.

Concerns were first raised about the company by the pharmacy regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC), during an inspection in April 2020. The inspection found numerous failures, including that the company did not have the correct risk assessments in place in relation to the prescription of “high-risk medicines”.