Freedom of Information request (FOI 22/861)
Published 17 January 2024
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FOI 22/861
23rd August 2022
Dear
Thank you for your email, dated 1st August 2022, in which you asked:
- Since the 2018 financial year how many websites have been reported to the MHRA?
A: During the period under review, 783 websites were reported to the MHRA
- How many have been taken down or had other action taken against them?
A: 378 websites were subject to impactful enforcement activity. In some cases no MHRA action was required.
- What is the timeframe for sites to be removed or other action taken against them?
A: Each notification is dealt with on a case by case basis and the response time to remove a site or to take other enforcement action varies greatly. A wide variety of determining factors come into play, including what, if any, offences are apparent; the risk posed by the medical products offered for sale; and the registered location of the website in question.
The MHRA frequently requests the removal of illegally operating websites, but responsibility for progressing these requests and the speed with which they are actioned rests with third party organisations involved in the administration, management and hosting of domains. These providers very often exist outside of the UK jurisdiction and responses vary between operators.
Notwithstanding the websites reported to us, the MHRA is keen to strengthen its understanding of the threat posed by those selling medicines online illegally. Last year, the MHRA worked with partners to proactively identify, take down or block access to almost 33,000 links to illegally trading websites and webpages targeting the UK.
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Yours sincerely
MHRA Customer Experience Centre