MHRA seizes unlicensed drugs at car boot sale

Published: 18-Sep-2009
Regulatory

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More than £35,000 of unlicensed erectile dysfunction drugs have been seized at a car boot sale in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands as part of a covert investigation by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

A 60-year-old man was arrested for possession with intent to supply the medicines, which included unlicensed Indian products Kamagra, Savitra and Apcalis. Tattered cardboard boxes and dirty plastic bags full of the drugs were found jammed in his car boot.

MHRA head of enforcement Mick Deats said this type of activity is illegal under the Medicines Act and enforceable with up to two years" imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

"What we found were shockingly unhygienic conditions for the handling of medicines. Dirty plastic bags and shabby cardboard boxes of unlicensed medicines were rammed into the boot of a car as well as in and around the spare tyre," said Deats.

"Illegal online pharmacies have no quality control or standards to abide by and people who purchase medicines from these sources will never know where the tablets they are putting in their mouths have actually been."

The MHRA urges the public not to purchase prescription only medicines from the Internet without a prescription. Anyone contemplating buying medicines online should do so only through a legitimate website registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

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