Buying medicines online - spotting a fake online pharmacy

This article has been written and medically approved by Pharmacist Conor McSorley GPhC Reg No. 2223070

Staying safe online is no longer just about keeping your passwords safe and preventing hackers.

With an expected growth of 20% annually in online pharmacy sales, more and more people are beginning to use the internet to buy prescription and over-the-counter medication. As demand increases, the rise of unregistered and unregualted online pharmacies will put risk to many potential customers without the supervision of a healthcare professional. 

Buying medicine from an unregistered online pharmacy is risky not just due to the lack of supervision from a healthcare professional but the medicine they provide may also be out of date, diluted or fake.

At Brownspharmacy.com not only do we always give you information about the correct dose you should take, warnings about the medication and the ingredients, we will also ask all necessary questions to ensure that the medication is suitable for you. On top of this we provide genuine medication containing a patient information leaflet you should always read prior to use. 

It can be difficult to distinguish between registered online pharmacies and fake pharmacy websites, as often the latter can be very convincing. If you are unsure just look out for the General Pharmacuetical Council (GPhC) seal of approval through the internet pharmacy logo scheme. The GPhC operates a voluntary internet pharmacy logo scheme to provide reassurance to patients and the public that they are purchasing medicines online from registered pharmacies who have to meet GPhC standards. To see what this looks like just scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see our registration.