Dr Fox Pharmacy

Dr Fox is an online clinic launched in January 2010 by Dr Tony Steele and Dan Broughton. The company is owned by Index Medical Ltd and was the first UK online consultation service to allow patients to check their eligibility for treatment without first completing a registration process.
The company was established to provide regulated online medical services through an online facility, where patients can undertake consultations for the supply of prescription medications across a limited range of medical conditions.
UK Online Pharmacy market
The UK Online Pharmacy market is a system of exchange that has built up around the growing practice of the online sale and purchase of prescription pharmaceuticals. The term has emerged along with Online doctor, eHealth and e-patient during the 2000s to describe the increasing availability to consumers of online medical services through online pharmacies and doctors clinics.
In the UK an online (or internet) pharmacy will sell a variety of beauty products, over the counter drugs as well as prescription only drugs, while some also provide other online services (such as advice on dosage).
The UK Online Pharmacy market has been marked by relatively low growth through much of the 2000s, although the later part of the decade has seen an upturn in both consumer interest in online medical and pharmaceutical services and the number of companies providing such services in the UK. There are now more than 2 million UK consumers who purport to regularly buy drugs over the internet from online pharmacies.
Origins
The UK Online Pharmacy market began in 1999 when the first companies followed in the footsteps of the first US online pharmacies, while the first company to be considered legal under regulation began operating in 2002 (Health Express). The market was further boosted in 2005 when a change to NHS regulation made it legal for legitimate online pharmacies to fill in NHS prescription forms for patients.
Services
The UK Online Pharmacy Market is made up of various kinds of businesses that might include the following:
* Legitimate and government regulated internet pharmacy based in and operating within the same country as the customer who is ordering
* Legitimate online pharmacies based in another country to the customer who is ordering yet operating across countries. These pharmacies must be licensed under their home country regulation but are not the subject of any international legal orders
* Illegal or unethical online pharmacies that are not approved by regulators and therefore may be operating outside the limits of the law, for example by selling outdated (expired shelf life) or counterfeit medication to customers.
The main difference online pharmacy services and more traditional shop based pharmacies is the aspect of home delivery. Customers who purchase products online can expect the medication to be delivered to their home. Many legitimate online pharmacies use insulated shipping containers to guarantee that the pharmaceutical products are kept at optimum temperatures on their way to the customer.
Link to Online Doctors
In the UK it has become increasingly common for online pharmacies to offer combined services with online doctor’s clinics. This was not a service that was offered by the first online pharmacies in the UK, such as Health Express, but is now characterised by companies such as Dr Fox. These doctors can then carry out online consultations with registered website users and issue the prescriptions for drugs that the pharmacy can then legally supply. It is important to note that the company hiring the doctor must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and that online pharmacies generally do not tend to prescribe and stock as many kinds of medicine as more traditional pharmacies. The online doctor will have a number of different ways that they can carry out online consultations with customers who usually pay a one off fee that includes the combined price of consultation, prescription and medicine.
Regulation
The UK online pharmacy market has been subject to official regulation since the first legal online pharmacy was set up in 2002. In 2005 changes to NHS regulation made it legal for online pharmacies to fill out NHS prescriptions over the internet. In general, online pharmacies in the UK are subject to same statutory regulation that traditional pharmacies so are under the watch of bodies like the PSNC and most have a Care Quality Commission registration number, comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and be licensed to the GPhC and RPS. In 2008 the RPSGB introduced a specially designed green cross logo so that customers could easily identify online pharmacies that had been accredited by the organisation. In 2010 this logo scheme was passed on to the GPhC.
Controversy
The UK Online Pharmacy market has been controversial as it has grown due to a number of perceived risks, some of which are shared with the global market for internet medicines and some which are specific to the UK market:
• There is a danger that illegal or unregulated pharmacies can supply customers with drugs that are bad for their health due to being outdated, substitute or counterfeit
• It is feared that minors, children or other vulnerable people might be able to purchase controlled substances without the supervision of a relevant adult
• There are also concerns that even regulated and legitimate online pharmacies may potentially lack adequate confidentiality procedures or might not be using adequate packaging
It is hoped that the large regulatory architecture that is built up around legitimate UK online pharmacies will act to ensure that the high standards expected of traditional pharmacies will become the norm for internet pharmacies operating in the UK market.

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