The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is cracking down on the diversion of Prescription-Only Medicines (POM) onto the criminal market, after first becoming aware of a significant diversion of benzodiazepines and other hypnotics/anxiolytics in 2016.

During 2017 MHRA expanded operations to 19 active investigations and have made more than 40 arrests. Our investigations have revealed an extensive network of criminality involving businesses such as wholesale dealers and a small number of registered pharmacies throughout the UK diverting medicines.

Between 2013 and 2016 an estimated £115-200m of medicines were diverted from the legitimate supply chain onto the criminal market, putting thousands of vulnerable people at risk.

The independent review into dependence and addiction to prescription drugs, recently announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, highlights the scale of the problem. The review will be looking into the results of a recent Home Office survey which found 7.6% of adults had taken a prescription-only painkiller not prescribed to them.

Arrests have been made for offences such as possession with intent to supply a controlled drug, and offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The focus of our investigation is Prescription-Only Medicines such as benzodiazepines and anxiolytics including Diazepam and Zopiclone as well as the painkiller Tramadol.

These medicines are being sold through websites acting illegally, and people should be careful when buying medicines online. Criminals are known to exploit vulnerable people by selling medicines through unregulated websites and stealing their credit card details.

Self-diagnosis and self-medication can be dangerous. All of the Prescription-Only medicines currently being investigated have the potential to result in addiction. However, when these are appropriately prescribed there are measures in place to reduce this risk including restrictions on the dose or duration of treatment.

There is no indication this criminality has led to medicines shortages or issues with the legitimate supply of medicines to the public and medicines supplied with a prescription, through registered pharmacies, are unaffected.

Alastair Jeffrey, MHRA Head of Enforcement, said:

Selling medicines outside of the regulated supply chain is a serious criminal offence and we are working relentlessly with regulatory and law enforcement colleagues to identify and prosecute all those involved in this activity.

The medicines being sold are potent and should only be taken under medical supervision. Criminals involved are exploiting people when they are at their most vulnerable; their only objective is to make money.

We will continue to concentrate our efforts on identifying the criminals involved and ensure they are prosecuted through the courts.

Victoria Atkins MP, Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability said:

I welcome this investigation by the MHRA, which shows there is no hiding place for criminals who try to sell prescription drugs illegally.

Drug misuse can cause untold harm and devastate lives and this Government will take whatever action is necessary to keep our families and communities safe.

Our Drug Strategy sets out a balanced approach which brings together police, health, community and global partners to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with a drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around.

Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of General Pharmaceutical Council:

We are working closely with the MHRA on the ongoing investigations into these very serious criminal offences. We have already taken action to suspend five pharmacists under interim orders and are actively reviewing at each stage of the investigations whether we need to take further action to protect the public.

We would also strongly urge people not to take any prescription medicines unless they have a valid prescription, as they could be putting their health at serious risk.

People wishing to report criminal activity relating to the diversion of these medicines should report this to us to our case referrals email address: CaseReferrals@mhra.gov.uk. You may also provide information anonymously through Crimestoppers

• Investment of £6.1 million will help educate athletes, share intelligence and conduct testing in the fight against drug cheats to keep sport clean

• Sports Minister Tracey Crouch also publishes second annual update on government’s sport strategy that shows progress on governance,

UK Anti-Doping is to receive an additional £6 million of funding from the government to further strengthen its armoury in the fight against doping, Sports Minister Tracey Crouch announced today.

The move comes after the first full-scale review of the organisation since it was set up in 2009 that has resulted in a number of recommendations to help make further progress in anti-doping.

These include:

• UKAD to consider submitting a framework to government and sports to allow doping control officers to have unfettered access to conduct random testing at competitions
• UKAD to encourage greater collaboration from law enforcement agencies and to ensure whistleblowers have confidence to come forward
• Sports in receipt of public funding to report annually on their anti-doping education programmes to UKAD and publish this information on their websites
• Health harms associated with the abuses of Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs) should be integrated into drug information and education supported by Public Health England, Public Health Wales, Health Scotland, Public Health (Northern Ireland) and the Home Office Drugs Strategy
• Government should revise the National Anti-Doping Policy by September 2018 in consultation with UKAD and the Home Country Sport Councils
• UKAD to ensure that all publicly funded athletes and support personnel participate in annual anti-doping education programmes
• UKAD to establish an Innovations Committee later this year to signpost new trends in doping
• A new international strategy to be drawn up by UKAD to help drive a global approach to innovation in anti-doping

The move means that over the next two years UKAD’s budget will be increased by around 50 per cent to help it implement the recommendations in the tailored review.

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said:

We must do all we can to make sure sport is free from doping and that players and fans are confident that there is a level playing field. This £6 million additional funding for UKAD will help us take the fight even harder to those trying to cheat through doping. It will also help educate people at all levels of sport about the dangers of image and performance enhancing drugs and maintain UKAD’s standing as one of the leading anti-doping agencies in the world.

UKAD will now work with the DCMS on the specifics of what the additional £6.1 million will be spent on.

UK Anti-Doping Chair Trevor Pearce said:

We are delighted at the news from DCMS today, to significantly increase the funding available to UKAD for the next two years. This clear commitment to clean sport from government will allow us to increase the effectiveness of our current investigation, testing and education programmes, and also importantly to expand our investment into new approaches in the fight against doping. We look forward to working with DCMS on the implementation of recommendations for UKAD and we share their ambition for the UK to lead the world in Anti-Doping.

Today Tracey Crouch has also published the second annual report to Parliament on the government’s sport strategy ‘Sporting Future.’ Progress made on the implementation of the strategy over includes:

• Code for Sports governance being adhered to by national governing bodies to ensure greater transparency, accountability and diversity across the sector

• Continued investment in the sector in line with the change in approach to encouraging participation in sport and physical activity that Sporting Future signalled. Sport England has invested over £530 million of exchequer and lottery money in over 2,500 projects over the past 20 months and is working with a broader range of organisations to get people active.

• Sports Business Council set up, co-chaired by Tracey Crouch and Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore

• Review of criminalisation of doping completed with recommendations made to strengthen approach to anti-doping

• Held roundtables on the issue of mental health in physical activity and sport with work ongoing to make progress in this area

• Duty of Care report published by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson to help the sector focus on what more can be done to ensure safeguarding of participants at every level

• Successfully hosted major global sporting events including the 2017 World Athletics Championships

• Won the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Tracey Crouch added:

We are making good progress on a number of fronts. We are ensuring our governing bodies have world leading standards of governance as well as targeting funding to encourage new participants in sport and physical activity. There is still more work to do. This year I will particularly focus on mental health in sport and encouraging the sector to continue to step up on safeguarding all participants – from the grassroots to the elite.

Notes to Editors: For more information please contact DCMS Press Office – 020 7211 2210

The outcome of a closed government consultation on a proposed homelessness code of guidance for local authorities, is keenly awaited by London Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee (VAPC).

The VAPC, had previously commissioned an independent review from the University of Kent, on how London’s councils implement housing policy affecting veterans, contributed to the consultation.

It welcomed that guidance on dealing with veterans now forms a separate section within the proposed code.

But London VAPC chairman Lynn Verity suggested there were several areas where further clarification was vital:

Chief among these are that the code as currently written does not define either ‘veteran’ or ‘vulnerable’. We have pointed this out and, therefore, hope our concerns are acted upon.

Prof Rob Wilson (r.) explaining the veteran landscape, VAPC/KITE Armed Forces Community Hub Workshop, KITE, Newcastle University, 09/01/2018. Photograph by Michael Potts. All rights reserved.