Pharmacies sold products containing domperidone despite warnings

Almost half of the pharmacies visited by a mystery shopper wrongly sold a popular over-the-counter stomach remedy in breach of warnings that they are dangerous for people with heart conditions.

Of 93 pharmacies visited in the exercise last December, 46% sold products containing domperidone, most often seen in Ireland in the form of Motilium, despite being told the purchase was for a patient who was on heart tablets.

The figure was better than a year earlier, when 50 pharmacies were visited and 78% of them wrongly sold the drug but the Pharmacy Regulator has expressed concern at the continuing high level of breaches.