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A community pharmacist who supplied a drug addict with "under the counter drugs" has been jailed for 18 months. Dushyant Patel, 67, a London pharmacist with more than 40 years' experience, had supplied class C drugs to a drug user in Norwich for months in 2020. Police identified Patel as a suspect four months after the death of drug user, Alisha Siddiqi, whose body was found at a property in Colossus Way, Costessey, in August 2020. An initial post-mortem examination was inconclusive, but toxicology results later showed she died from an overdose of prescription medication. An analysis of her phone revealed that she had frequent communication with Patel between January and August 2020. Class C drugs sold without prescription There was also communication regarding transactions relating to the sale of prescription drugs including class C drugs, without a prescription, namely Zolpidem and Zopiclone. Patel was identified as a suspect and later charged with drugs offences. He was jailed at Norwich Crown Court in December after a trial in August when he was found guilty of two counts of being concerned in supplying a controlled drug between March and August 2020.

Pharmacy contractors continue to grapple with profit pressures despite many reporting significant sales revenue increases, according to Hutchings Consultants' England Pharmacy Market Update 2024. The report emphasises that gross profit margins are under considerable strain due to factors such as rising wholesale drug costs, the dispensing of certain drug lines at a loss, reduced drug tariff reimbursements, and ongoing medicine shortages. These challenges have led to a growing number of pharmacies reporting substantial declines in their profit margins this year. For instance, Cohens Chemists reported a £5.7 million loss in the last financial year, even as sales reached £253 million. Similarly, Day Lewis, the UK's second-largest independent pharmacy chain, experienced a 5.9% sales increase driven by growth in prescription dispensing, over-the-counter sales, and pharmacy services, yet faced a 32% drop in pre-tax profits due to heightened administration costs, which included inflation-driven increases in staff, energy, utilities, and rent. The average profit margin has declined to 33% in 2024, down from 34.4% the previous year.