The MHRA have updated their Blue Guide on Advertising and Promoting Medicines.
The update is to Appendix 4 with new Best Practice guidance on the sale of medicines for pain relief.
Appendix 4 is available here:
Best_practice_guidance_on_the_sale_of_medicines_2025.pdf
The MHRA also make the full Blue Guide available for free at the following link:
Blue Guide: advertising and promoting medicines – GOV.UK
The updated new Best Practice guidance on the sale of medicines for pain relief advises retailers (including High Street/Community Pharmacies) to restrict sales of solid dose (tablet or capsule) pain relief packs containing Aspirin, Ibuprofen or Paracetamol to a maximum of 2 packs in any one transaction. Also, crucially, to refrain from incentivising or promoting the sales of these products with offers such as ‘Buy One Get One Free’, ‘Buy One Get One Half Price’ or similar.
The driver for both of these restrictions is, as always, protection of patient safety. Restricting sales and avoiding promotional offers reduces impulse buying or stockpiling which can lead to accidental or impulsive overdose.
Tools for implementing these new Best practice guidance on the sale of medicines for pain reliefinclude automated or self-serve checkouts not permitting sales of more than 2 packs, enhanced staff training to explain to customers why the restrictions exist, avoiding ‘bargain bin’ set ups within stores for these products and for online retailers building in timed delays to customer ordering profiles to prevent multiple, repeat transactions. Further tools are available via the link above.
If your retail operation is impacted by the new Best practice guidance on the sale of medicines for pain relief then it may be worth conducting a thorough Risk Assessment of your retail practices to ensure this guidance is implemented. The team at PCL includes several Pharmacists who have a wealth of knowledge and experience of conducting Risk Assessments and implementing the resulting actions, so if you require any further information or assistance please contact us.