Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many seizures of illegal Lupron have been made in the last 12 months in England and Wales; and what measures, if any, they plan to take to prevent its purchase and import via the internet.

Lupron is not an authorised medicine in the United Kingdom. The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient in Lupron is Leuprorelin which is classed as a prescription only medicine and is present in Prostap 3 which is licensed in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has regulatory responsibility for medicines and medical devices. The MHRA has no recorded seizures of Lupron, Leuprolin or Prostap 3.

There is provision in medicines regulations for the import of unauthorised medicines for specific use by named patients. In the last five years, there have been 25 notifications of the import of leuprolide/leuprorelin.

Additionally, there are no formal restrictions on an individual importing medicines into the UK provided they are strictly for use by that person or a member of their immediate family. Legal controls on the retail sale, supply and advertising of medicines are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. These apply without distinction to medicines advertised, sold or supplied through the internet.

Websites offering to supply unauthorised medicines to UK citizens are breaching UK legal requirements. The MHRA investigates reports of illegal activity taking place on a website and, where appropriate, takes enforcement action against suppliers who operate outside the legal requirements. However, considerable illegal activity takes place outside of UK jurisdiction and illegally trading websites identified overseas are referred to the relevant country for appropriate action.