Pharmacist Struck Off After Unsafe Remote Prescribing of High-Risk Medicines
Date of Decision: February 5, 2026
Registrant's Role: Pharmacist
Allegations:
- The registrant, while working as a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber for two online pharmacies, routinely prescribed and approved very high volumes of prescriptions for high-risk medicines and medicines requiring ongoing monitoring.
- Prescribing decisions were frequently made on the basis of patient-completed online questionnaires alone, without adequate clinical assessment, consultation, or verification of medical history.
- The registrant failed to access or attempt to access patients’ GP or specialist medical records, failed to undertake face-to-face or virtual consultations, and failed to implement adequate safety-netting.
- The registrant prescribed medicines with significant risks of dependence and misuse, including opioids, z-drugs, and modafinil, without adequate consideration of addiction risk or referral to GPs.
- As Clinical Lead at one provider, the registrant failed to identify, challenge, or correct unsafe prescribing practices by other prescribers and failed to ensure robust governance, policies, and risk assessments.
- The registrant prescribed off-label medicines, particularly modafinil, contrary to NICE, BNF, and other best-practice guidance, without appropriate pre-treatment testing such as ECGs.
- The registrant continued to work as a prescriber for an online pharmacy that was not registered with the GPhC during part of the relevant period.
- Overall, the registrant’s approach to prescribing was found to be transactional rather than patient-centred and clinically robust.
Outcome: Removal from the register, with an interim suspension in place pending the appeal period.
GPhC Standards Breached:
- Standard 1 – Provide person-centred care
- Standard 2 – Work in partnership with others
- Standard 3 – Communicate effectively
- Standard 4 – Maintain, develop and use professional knowledge and skills
- Standard 5 – Use professional judgement
- Standard 6 – Behave in a professional manner
- Standard 7 – Respect and maintain the person’s confidentiality and privacy
- Standard 8 – Speak up when things go wrong
Case Summary
Allegations
This case concerned the registrant’s extensive involvement in remote and online prescribing over several years, primarily through two online pharmacy providers. The scale of activity was striking. While working for one provider, the registrant prescribed or approved approximately 76,000 prescriptions over a three-year period, including more than 16,000 high-risk medicines or medicines requiring ongoing monitoring. These included opioids such as codeine and dihydrocodeine, z-drugs such as zopiclone, antidepressants such as amitriptyline, beta-blockers such as propranolol, weight-loss medicines, metformin, and large volumes of modafinil.
The allegations focused not only on the volume of prescribing, but on the way in which clinical decisions were made. The registrant was accused of routinely relying on online questionnaires completed by patients, without adequate attempts to verify the information provided, without consulting GP records, and without direct patient contact. In multiple patient-specific examples, the registrant prescribed medicines to individuals with known histories of poor mental health, substance misuse, or repeated requests for the same medicines, without escalation, referral, or enhanced monitoring.
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- Full allegations considered by the GPhC
- Panel findings and reasoning
- Outcome of the investigation
- Sanctions considered and imposed on the Pharmacist
- Key professional learning points
Original Case Document
View the Full Determination Document
The original determination transcript is available to registered users.
- Download the official GPhC determination
- Full hearing transcript
- Detailed findings of fact
- Sanction reasoning
- Details of the pharmacy professionals involved