WHY SHE WAS ABLE TO DO IT

THE number of online prescription websites is rising. Legal, UK-registered internet medicine sellers, which carry the logo of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), have almost doubled since 2015, from 380 to 713.

But as Sophie Courtney’s story (see panel, below) shows, people can use the same prescription at different online pharmacies to get more pills. Prescriptions can also be obtained outside the UK from legal sites in the EU, where EU-qualified GPs and pharmacies are able to approve remote prescribing. However, Britain is among a minority of EU member states that allow this.

There are also illegal sites based elsewhere in the world, which expose buyers to the extra risks of receiving counterfeit or bogus drugs.