Most of us will know that it is illegal to promote prescription only medicines (POMs) to members of the public, however, it is always worth a reminder that you must be careful what you advertise.
The MHRA’s bulletins on their advertising investigations carried out over the first 5 months of 2024 (see link below) contain no fewer than 11 Pharmacies that were advertising Prescription Medicines and treatment for weight loss alone, often as an off-label use of the medicine, to the public via their websites.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/advertising-investigations-by-mhra
The regulator advised that ‘companies have amended their advertising following MHRA action on complaints to ensure that Prescription-Only Medicines (including advertisement for use outside the terms of their licence) are not promoted to the public’.
The MHRA bulletin went on to say “We advised some of the relevant companies that images of, or information about, medicines that are not licensed for weight loss should not be presented as such on their webpages. We reminded them that the suitability of a particular product as part of a weight-management service should be a professional prescribing decision based on a consultation to identify the suitability of any product or treatment for an individual.”
As more and more UK Registered Pharmacies create their business model around the supply of Aesthetic and other treatments for the promotion of beauty, health and wellness it is critical that these businesses understand the rules and regulations surrounding the advertising of medicines. The MHRA’s Blue Guide on the advertising and promotion of medicines in the UK is available for free here:
Be Careful What You Advertise!