Major chain offers Tamiflu online

Pharmacy giant Lloydspharmacy has begun selling Tamiflu online to patients who do not have swine flu.

The pharmacy giant said it was selling the anti-viral medicine "in advance of need" to customers who wanted to make sure they had Tamiflu if they needed it and for people travelling abroad. Packs of 10 x 75mg Tamiflu cost £48.50 plus £4.95 postage and packing.

The Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency said there was no need for people to buy in advance of need and that the medication was available free on the NHS with enough supplies to meet the needs of the entire UK population.

However, Andy Murdock, governance and pharmacy relations director of Lloydspharmacy, said there was a “significant demand” for private prescriptions of the drug.

He added: “We have decided to become the first recognised healthcare brand to sell Tamiflu online in advance of need so that people who want to buy the treatment can get it from a reputable online source which they can trust to dispense Tamiflu.”

Lloydspharmacy sad it was selling the drug at less than half the price of some other online sources. The drug will be available via the company’s online doctor service, which is run in partnership with online clinic DrThom. Lloydspharmacy says it is the only online doctor service to be regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

Murdock said people contacting the service with symptoms of swine flu would be advised to contact the NHS service appropriate to their area.

He added: “Our service is for people who want to ensure they have Tamiflu available if and when they need it and for people who will be travelling abroad at some point in the future.

“In the information sent out with every Tamiflu order our doctors will explain the symptoms people should look out for and the circumstances under which they should begin treatment.”

The Health Protection Agency’s latest weekly update on swine flu, published last Thursday, said there had been a plateau or small decrease in weekly consultation rates in England in the previous seven days.

The agency said it was very challenging to produce reliable estimates with the move from GP consultations to the launch of the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS). However, it said the decline coincided with the introduction of the NPFS and the start of the school holidays.

Figures from and QSurveillance showed that the daily flu-like illness rate for Tuesday 28 July was less than a third of that seen on Tuesday 21 July with lower rates of flu-like illness seen in all strategic health authorities. The HPA said observations over the next week would clarify trends.