Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on steps to (a) tackle the illegal sale of cross-sex hormones online and (b) protect public health.

Strict regulatory controls govern medicinal products for human use, including their manufacture, distribution, retail sale and supply, and advertisement. The medicines referred to cannot be advertised directly to the public, and any online offer to sell or supply them to a patient would likely contravene the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

Instances of United Kingdom-based non-compliant activity relating to the online advertising, sale, or supply of medicines are reviewed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on a case-by-case basis, and appropriate action taken. Enforcement options include removal of the offending weblink, remedial intervention to bring the owner into compliance, or a criminal investigation and possible prosecution.

The MHRA also works closely with partners to prevent medicines from entering or being traded in the UK illegally. The MHRA’s Fake Meds campaign encourages people in the UK to use safe and legitimate sources when buying medication online. The MHRA also promotes the reporting of suspicious medicinal products and adverse side effects via its Yellow Card scheme. Further information on the Fake Meds campaign and the Yellow Card scheme is available, respectively, at the following links:

https://fakemeds.campaign.gov.uk/

https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/