The PDA believes that e-cigarettes should not be sold from a pharmacy until a suitable licensed product is available. In keeping with the PDA’s philosophy of respecting its members’ professional judgement, we ask that they take into consideration the following information when arriving at a decision whether to sell e-cigarettes or not.
- E-cigarettes are currently unlicensed products with no standardisation of safety, quality or efficacy
- The availability of suitable licensed nicotine replacement products already offered through pharmacies
- The risk that selling unlicensed e-cigarettes through pharmacies will legitimise such products and may confuse the public concerning their overall effectiveness and safety
- The current media profile and advertising of e-cigarettes which may encourage non-smokers to experiment with these products and could normalise smoking behaviour and nicotine exposure
- The undermining of any local NHS smoking cessation services provided though the pharmacy if e-cigarettes were sold
- Some e-cigarette brands are owned by tobacco companies and sales of these brands contributes to the profits of a business whose primary product has major health risks. Over 100,000 smokers in the UK die each year from smoking related causes
- The GPhC position on e-cigarettes requires consideration of the guidance from appropriate bodies such as the MHRA and the RPS. The RPS guidance is that “e-cigarettes should not currently be sold or advertised from pharmacies”
The commercial decision by some pharmacies to start selling e-cigarettes from registered premises appears to be in conflict with the guidance of the regulator and the RPS. This presents pharmacists with a dilemma where their instinct is to follow this guidance yet their employer is encouraging them to ignore it.
This example demonstrates how the friction between commercialism and professionalism can be problematic and leave pharmacists, the profession and ultimately patients exposed to the commercially driven agenda of employers.
In light of this, the PDA believes that the GPhC should urgently review its premises standards policy as recent developments demonstrate how these standards have been used to undermine the professionalism of pharmacy by the commercial agenda. It also exposes the potential difficulties for the profession and patients, concerning the GPhC’s current plans to allow superintendent pharmacists and owners to be the judge of whether P medicines can be sold on self-selection.
Pharmacists who feel under pressure from company managers to sell e-cigarettes against their professional judgement should contact the PDA for advice.