Concern that patients are being put at risk through online treatment for gonorrhoea

A BBC investigation has found that some websites offering treatment for gonorrhoea is putting patients at risk by not following best treatment guidelines.

Although health experts recommend patients receive a powerful antibiotic, which can only be delivered by injection, the investigation located seven UK-based websites offering only oral antibiotics.

Gonorrhoea is currently the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the UK (nearly 30,000 people were diagnosed in England in 2013) and can lead to serious health problems if not caught and treated early.

In 2011, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), which sets guidelines nationally for treatment of the infection, said the use of antibiotics in tablet form was not the most effective treatment, recommending that patients receive a more powerful antibiotic delivered by injection alongside another given as a tablet. They added that failure to do so could mean patients receive less effective treatment.

The investigation found seven websites based in the UK who offered only oral antibiotics, which is not in line with guidelines for best treatment practice.

BASHH’s president Dr Jan Clarke, said “We are deeply concerned if, as it appears, oral antibiotics for gonorrhoea are being used as a standard treatment by online pharmacies.

“There is a risk to individual patients, and a real public health risk that the effectiveness of the limited range of antibiotics still available to us will deteriorate through this practice.

“From a patient perspective, in receiving oral antibiotics rather than an injection, they are receiving sub-optimal treatment and care.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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