A pharmacist in the United Kingdom has been suspended after a regulatory panel found serious professional misconduct linked to online medicine sales and partnership with an overseas prescribing service. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) upheld the suspension following investigation into practice standards and patient safety concerns.
The pharmacist at the center of this case is Mr. Kaleem Ahmad, who acted as the superintendent pharmacist, responsible pharmacist, and a director of Richmond Healthcare (Stechford) Ltd, known commercially as A+ Pharmacy in Birmingham, UK. The GPhC oversees pharmacy standards and public safety in Great Britain, and it made the final decision on sanctions.
The GPhC found that between April 2021 and June 2022, Mr. Ahmad’s pharmacy engaged in practices that did not meet required professional standards. These included:
Selling pharmacy-only medicines (P medicines) through eBay and Amazon without proper controls to ensure safe supply.
Filling private prescriptions issued through an overseas prescribing service not regulated in the UK, meaning there were no safeguards verifying clinical authority.
The medicines supplied covered a wide range of treatments, including high-risk sleep agents and benzodiazepines. Records reviewed by the committee showed that more than 3,600 private prescriptions were dispensed, averaging 50 to 150 per day.
The operations in question occurred at A+ Pharmacy, located in Birmingham, UK. The GPhC inspection and subsequent fitness-to-practise proceedings were carried out in the context of UK pharmacy regulation.
Pharmacists in the UK are expected to ensure medicines are supplied safely and legally, including:
Verifying prescriptions and ensuring they come from prescribers authorized to practice in the UK.
Conducting clinical assessments before dispensing, especially for P medicines that require professional judgment.
Maintaining effective governance systems to control online medicine distribution.
In this case, the panel found that these safeguards were not in place. For example, antifungal medication (fluconazole) was supplied through Amazon without documented pharmacist-led assessment, meaning essential information about the person taking the medicine was not obtained.
The GPhC committee reviewed evidence, including inspection records and dispensing data. It evaluated whether professional standards were breached. The panel concluded that:
Systems to verify prescriber credentials and patient information were inadequate.
Governance and risk management for online sales were insufficient.
Pharmacist accountability and patient safety practices were lacking.
Although Mr. Ahmad cooperated with the investigation, the committee determined that his insight into the risks and governance failures was limited, and therefore imposed a three-month suspension from practice.
(Rh/SS/MSM)
