Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) effect of the sale of the unlicensed drug Melanotan (i) online and (ii) in shops.
Dr Daniel Poulter
There are strict legal controls governing the sale and supply of medicinal products in the United Kingdom.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) considers Melanotan products to be medicinal products within the meaning of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and as such, the manufacture, sale and supply are subject to UK regulatory control. No Melanotan product holds a marketing authorisation (product licence) for use in the UK and consequently advertising and sale or supply would be in breach of regulatory requirements.
The MHRA is aware that Melanotan is being sold through some outlets such as gyms and beauty salons and is available more widely on the Internet through certain websites.
During the past 12 months, the MHRA has worked with Internet Service Providers in the UK and abroad to suspend more than 100 websites illegally trading in Melanotan.
The MHRA issues regular warnings to the public about the dangers involved in the use of unlicensed medicines, including Melanotan and officials have participated in Press campaigns and specific media coverage of the problem.
As of 12 June 2014, the MHRA has received a total of 22 reports of Adverse Drug Reactions associated with the use of Melanotan (product names Melanotan I, Melanotan II and Ubertan), describing a total of 93 adverse reactions. However, it is important to note that the reporting of a suspected adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it is related to the drug.
