The Taskforce for Lung Health and Digital Clinical Excellence have co-produced new best practice guidance – accessible here –  for online pharmacy providers setting out the steps they need to take to safely prescribe short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) inhalers online.

Inappropriate online purchases of SABA reliever inhalers drive poor patient outcomes and unfairly impact the poorest in society. SABA inhalers are most commonly used to treat asthma and COPD but they only treat symptoms, not their underlying cause. This results in many patients often over-relying on SABA inhalers, which can lead to worsening asthma being masked and side effects including palpitations, headaches and trembling. Many of these patients might instead benefit from using alternative medicines, such as combination inhalers which treat both symptoms and the underlying inflammation that causes them.

Buying SABA inhalers online can often be cheaper for patients than having to pay the prescription charge when they’ve been prescribed an inhaler by a GP, which can make it an attractive option to patients. However, this results in patients being prescribed SABA inhalers without a proper review. This opens patients up to increased risk of SABA overuse whilst seeing them go without suitable care. Many of those at the highest risk of exacerbation are therefore also the least likely to see their GP or access good basic care for their respiratory condition.

This guidance is timely, as the role of SABA is evolving due to the updated asthma guidelines published in November 2024. This best practice guidance will support the implementation of the new asthma guideline, and we encourage all online pharmacy providers to model their services on its recommendations to improve patient safety.

If you have any questions about this best practice guidance or other policy areas, please contact us.

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