Jersey warning over dementia drugs for sale online

Health officials in Jersey have warned that drugs for dementia should not be bought from online outlets.

Dementia drugs such as Reminyl are available only by prescription, but some are for sale on the internet.

Dr Juan Melendez, a psychiatrist at the Jersey Memory Clinic, said these may not be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA).

"The online product has unknown origins," he added.

"You could be buying it from a not licensed pharmacy, or not a pharmacy at all.

"Secondly, the item you buy online might not contain an active ingredient or contain a different one, and also it could contain a different dose to the one advertised.

"We would also ask people to take into account all the risks associated to buying without a medical prescription such as interactions with other medicines and side effects."

He said Galantamine could be potentially serious if there is history of pre-existing heart disease, gastrointestinal ulcer or bleeding or severe lung disease.

Jo Cummins, manager of the Jersey Alzheimer's Association, said: "It is concerning for us that that one can buy this product online and we would not want people to do this in order to self-prescribe.

"This could be worrying if the Memory Clinic has deemed that the drug is not suitable for a particular person, so we would urge people always to seek medical advice before taking any drug which claims to help stop Alzheimer's."