GPhC branded shabby for decision on sale of homoeopathic “antimalarials” | PJ Online

Sense About Science has called the General Pharmaceutical Council shabby and irresponsible after it decided not to take action against pharmacists whose pharmacies were offering homoeopathic alternatives to anti-malaria medicines.

Complaints originally lodged by Sense About Science in 2006 were considered last month by the GPhC’s legacy determination group — a group established to assess all pre- and post-investigating committee cases inherited from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain — and a decision was made not to pursue the cases further.

The GPhC says that detailed investigations were carried out at the time the complaints were lodged, including visits from a Society inspector, and remedial action was taken.

It says that, in accordance with its guidance on threshold criteria for referral of cases to the fitness-to-practice investigating committee (PDF 193k), it did not consider the current fitness for registration of the pharmacists involved to be impaired such that their registration should be removed or restricted.

Citing the GPhC threshold criterion of there being “evidence that the registrant was reckless with the safety and wellbeing of others”, Tracey Brown, managing director of Sense About Science, said: “If the [GPhC] does not consider that it is reckless to prescribe magic water to prevent a deadly disease such as malaria then it is hard to imagine what is.”

Sense About Science claims that at least one pharmacy is continuing to market homoeopathic travel “vaccinations” for diphtheria, malaria, polio, typhoid and encephalitis.

Although the cases are now closed, the GPhC says that the information gathered as part of the investigation can be considered if further complaints are made about the individuals in the future. It also has the power to investigate failure to adhere to remedial action, it says.

via pjonline.com

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