A medical regulator has warned that the online pharmacy model where doctors issue scripts based on a patient’s self-reported medical history is “inappropriate” and a “flawed operating system”.

The conclusion was made by the UK’s Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in the joint case of two GPs employed by White Pharmacy, which offers free online medical consultations for scripts.

The GPs were found to be “reckless” in their prescribing of opioids and suspended for professional misconduct that included not adequately assessing patients, such as by accessing their GP records.

In some cases, patients did not even provide consent for the prescribing information to be sent to their GPs, the tribunal said.