Unlicensed Hong Kong drugstores putting public at risk with misleading signs, pharmacists warn
PUBLISHED : Monday, 17 August, 2015, 1:05pm
UPDATED : Monday, 17 August, 2015, 10:50pm
Emily Tsang
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Many elderly people and tourists would not be able to tell the different between unlicensed drugstores and genuine pharmacies. Photo: Sam Tsang
Drugstores exploiting a regulatory loophole are putting the Hong Kong public’s health at risk, pharmacists warned today, as they urged the government to crack down on retailers displaying “medicine” signs despite operating without a pharmacy licence.
Many shops that display the word “medicine” in Chinese on brightly coloured signs at their premises only hold licences permitting them to sell certain simple drugs – such as flu medication and painkillers – but were posing as licensed pharmacies, concern groups said.
“There is no pharmacist on duty at these shops, which are supposed to sell simple prepackaged drugs,” said William Chui Chun-ming of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists. “The staff of these shops may be advising the public about the use of drugs when they are not medically trained. This has put the public health at risk.”
Chui added many members of the public do not know how to tell the difference between licensed and unlicensed pharmacies and were “often misled by these [medicine] signs.”
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He said that by law unauthorised drugstores were not allowed to issue prescribed medicine, such as treatment for heart disease, but staff would try to persuade customers to use other drugs instead of their approved medicines.”
Staff would tell elderly people that there is a cheaper choice of medicine that works equally well,” Chui said. “This puts their health at risks.”
Iris Chang, president of the Practising Pharmacists Association, agreed that many elderly people and tourists would not be able to tell the different between unlicensed drugstores and genuine pharmacies.
“The whole reputation of Hong Kong’s medical system is at stake,” Chang said.
She said the government should tighten its regulation to crack down on misleading marketing tactics.
Cheung Tak-wing, a pharmacist and member of the executive committee of the General Chamber of Pharmacy, agreed that elderly people and tourists may struggle to tell licensed pharmacies apart from other stores.
Chui and Chang reminded the public to pay attention to the difference and urged the government to tighten regulations and crack down on misleading marketing tactics.
