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Nine companies including pharmacies that breached regulations on the promotion of prescription-only (POM) weight loss medicines to the public have amended their advertising.  

The infringements involved the distribution of emails, website homepages and posters on pharmacy premises and the companies made amendments after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) intervened. 

The MHRA said it took “action on complaints to ensure that prescription-only medicines for weight loss are not promoted to the public, including indirect references to weight loss injections or GLP-1 medication likely to lead a member of the public to request a POM”. 

Express Healthcare Ltd, trading as Pharmacy Online, Quanta Healthcare Ltd, trading as The Virtual Slimming Clinic, and TheCurateGroup Ltd, trading as Curate Health, breached regulations through their website homepages and distribution of emails.

Mayfair Weight Loss Clinic, Oushk Pharmacy Ltd, Simple Online Healthcare Ltd, trading as Simple Online Pharmacy, and The Family Chemist Ltd breached regulations through the distribution of emails.

PCT Healthcare Ltd, trading as Peak Pharmacy Chellaston, and PillBox Chemists Ltd, trading as Birchall & Haydock Pharmacy, were rapped over posters at their pharmacy premises.

“Treatment service providers may promote the service or consultation offered. However, the advertising regulations prohibit the publication of an advertisement to the public that is likely to lead to the use of a POM,” the MHRA said.

“It is not appropriate to send proactive promotional communications such as emails or text messages to the general public that identify a medicinal product in a way that may be likely to lead to use of a POM.

“Customers or previous customers do not cease to be members of the public by virtue of having expressed an interest in a service or having been prescribed a particular medication in the past.”

When asked if it identified all or any of pharmacies involved and if it has taken any action against them, the GPhC told Independent Community Pharmacist: “The MHRA and ASA are the lead regulators on advertising of medicines, and so we would refer any concerns we identified to them.

“We work very closely with them and can, and will, take enforcement action if online pharmacies are not complying with MHRA and ASA action.”