P medicine sale refusal — GPhC CRA MCQ

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ModeratePharmacy Law and EthicsP medicine sale refusalGPhC CRA

A customer requests several packs of pseudoephedrine for friends; the PMR shows repeated recent purchases of similar decongestants. What should the pharmacist do?

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Correct answer: A — Refuse the sale, explore possible misuse and follow the pharmacy escalation procedure

Refuse the sale, explore possible misuse and follow the pharmacy escalation procedure: Repeated proxy buying and quantity-seeking are misuse indicators; legal pack limits are maximums, not an obligation to sell. Sell up to 720 mg for each named friend because the legal limit applies separately to every intended recipient: Proxy explanations do not justify multiple sales and increase diversion risk. Sell the requested amount if each pack is paid for in a separate transaction: Splitting transactions does not evade the restrictions or professional risk assessment. Replace pseudoephedrine with ephedrine and sell both products together: Concurrent sale is restricted and would increase diversion risk. Sell one pack now and reserve the remainder for collection later the same day: Staging the transaction does not make a suspicious request appropriate.

Reference: MHRA: pseudoephedrine and ephedrine sale restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/pseudoephedrine-and-ephedrine-remember-the-restrictions; BNF: pseudoephedrine hydrochloride: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/pseudoephedrine-hydrochloride/; GPhC standards for pharmacy professionals: https://assets.pharmacyregulation.org/files/standards_for_pharmacy_professionals_may_2017_0.pdf