Answers to the Common Questions on Buying Medicines Online

Obtaining medicines from internet pharmacies and websites.

Key takeaways

• Legitimate UK sellers: display the MHRA distance selling logo
• Pharmacies: must be registered with the GPhC and listed on its register
• Most useful single change: Check the GPhC register before buying from any online pharmacy.
• Commonest mistake: Any site offering prescription medicines without a prescription.
• See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.

What is Buying Medicines Online?

Obtaining medicines from internet pharmacies and websites.

Why does it matter?

Falsified medicines are a real and growing problem, and the sites selling them look exactly like the ones that do not.

Legitimate UK sellers for Buying Medicines Online?

Display the MHRA distance selling logo.

Prescription-only medicines for Buying Medicines Online?

Require a prescription, always.

A site selling POMs without one for Buying Medicines Online?

Is operating unlawfully.

What is the single most useful thing to do?

Check the GPhC register before buying from any online pharmacy.

What is the most common mistake?

Any site offering prescription medicines without a prescription.

When should I see a doctor?

Stop taking anything bought from an unverified source and speak to a pharmacist or GP. Seek urgent help for a rash, swelling, difficulty breathing, palpitations or confusion after taking a medicine from an unknown source. Report suspected falsified medicines to the MHRA.

Where to go next

• The Buying Medicines Online Checklist: What to Do and What to Skip
• Buying Medicines Online: Separating Myth From Guidance
• Buying Medicines Online — the reference entry
• Medicines in Older Age: What Published Guidance Supports
• Reporting Side Effects: Sorting the Evidence From the Noise

When to speak to a doctor

Stop taking anything bought from an unverified source and speak to a pharmacist or GP. Seek urgent help for a rash, swelling, difficulty breathing, palpitations or confusion after taking a medicine from an unknown source. Report suspected falsified medicines to the MHRA.

Where this comes from

• MHRA — buying medicines online safely
• General Pharmaceutical Council — register

How this page was put together

Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.

Medical disclaimer

This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.