NHS pharmacy ‘bleach cure’ row
THE largest online pharmacy backed by the NHS has admitted selling a highly potent bleaching agent as a “revolutionary” cure.
Regulators are investigating Pharmacy2U for offering a product called Air-Oxy, a liquid containing sodium chlorite, which can cause vomiting and breathing problems.
Concerns have been mounting over the increasing use of online pharmacies after ministers signalled that rural pharmacies could close across the country.
Customers who ingested Air-Oxy have reported agony, including one who said the pain she experienced was “worse than childbirth”.
The extremely alkaline liquid, which contains oxygen, has been promoted by some providers as a treatment for arthritis, high blood pressure and even depression.
Pharmacy 2U, which played a founding role in the delivery of electronically prescribed NHS drugs, described the
product as a “revolutionary new breakthrough which can help kill off harmful organisms”.
The scandal emerged after members of the obscure American Genesis II Church were exposed for selling Miracle Mineral Solution, containing the same agent, as a cure for autism.
Watchdogs now fear similar products are slipping through the regulatory net via online providers.
Ministers are planning to let chemists in rural areas close after the Government cut subsidies by £208million.
Air-Oxy is manufactured by British firm HealthAid, although it has removed any online reference to its health benefits following threats from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The firm insists Air-Oxy is not harmful and that any bad effects are the fault of patients failing to adequately dilute it.
Severe stomach cramps and palpitations are among the side-effects reported by patients taking it. Until Friday, the substance was on the Pharmacy2U website, but last night a spokesman said product descriptions were “outdated” and that the firm had stopped selling it “earlier this year”.
Pharmacy2U launched in the Nineties, and in 2001 it began an NHS pilot programme for the online transfer of prescriptions. It now handles the electronic prescription service for GPs.
Other retailers that have admitted selling Air-Oxy include Weldricks Pharmacy.
In its literature, the pharmacy appeared to state that the product included sodium chloride, which is salt, rather than “sodium chlorite”, the bleaching agent.
A spokesman said the firm had now removed Air-Oxy from its website and begun an inquiry into improving its procurement procedures, as well as contacting customers who had purchased it.
The Food Standards Agency, which is investigating, said: “The FSA has issued advice that sodium chlorite solutions are not safe and should not be sold for human consumption.”