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The superintendent pharmacist of online dispenser My London Pharmacy has received a warning from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after concerns were raised around how Ozempic and other “high risk” medicines were being dispensed in 2022. 

My London Pharmacy director Yousef Yaghoubi, who started the online business in 2022, was found by the GPhC’s investigatory committee (IC) to have allowed patients to obtain excessive supplies of medicines deemed to be high risk, which put them “at real risk of harm”. 

It was found that Mr Yaghoubi had failed to conduct a risk assessment into the prescribing service or “carry out any audit,” which created a “risk of oversupply or clinically inappropriate supplies” of medicines such as Ozempic and antibiotics used to treat sexually transmitted infections. 

The pharmacy relied “exclusively” on questionnaire-based consultations, which were not audited by Mr Yaghoubi, who also failed to verify whether the prescribers he used “were following UK prescribing guidance” or whether patients’ GPs were contacted before prescriptions were issued. 

“Inspectors noted examples where patients had been over-supplied high-risk medicines,” the IC added. 

“To mark the seriousness of the issue” the IC warned Mr Yaghoubi “that such conduct must not be repeated and that he must ensure the safety and efficacy of any pharmacy services provided by him, either in person or at a distance, and from the very initiation of the services”.

It added: “Proper risk assessment and governance are essential to patient safety and prescribing and/or dispensing in an online environment that relies solely on a patient questionnaire with little to no safeguards in place puts patients at risk, undermines public confidence in the pharmacy and is a serious breach of the standards for pharmacy professionals.”

He was warned that repeating this behaviour “will likely result in further regulatory intervention”. The warning will appear on his registration until October 9, 2026.

When approached for comment, My London Pharmacy told P3pharmacy: “The warning related to the operations in 2022. 

“Since then Yousef Yaghoubi, alongside a new management team, has turned the business around and has been inspected by the GPhC and received a full Standards Met report. 

“The GPhC has also approved a new second location for the business recently and we take our risk assessments and prescribing protocols extremely seriously in order to ensure patient safety.” 

The GPhC has also noted Mr Yaghoubi's remorse for his previous actions and that there "is no evidence of actual harm" to patients as a result of the behaviour described in the warning notice, the company added.

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