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Medical and pharmacy regulators have published an enforcement notice warning that advertisements for named prescription-only medicines (POMs) for weight-management are prohibited.
The notice was published jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on 11 April 2025.
It outlined the MHRA and the GPhC’s concerns about the advertising of POMs used for weight management, including a reminder to advertisers of the enforcement actions that will be taken by regulators.
The notice also said that named drugs that have been advertised in this way include Ozempic (semaglutide; Novo Nordisk), Mounjaro (tirzepatide; Eli Lilly and Company) and Wegovy (semaglutide; Novo Nordisk).
The rule applies to paid-for advertisements; non-paid-for content on social media; sponsored searches on search engines, such as Google; and influencer marketing.
In a statement published alongside the enforcement notice, the GPhC reiterated that pharmacy owners and superintendents must follow laws and guidance on advertising and promoting medicines, or risk GPhC enforcement action.
This could be against the pharmacy, owner, superintendent or all three. They could also face fitness-to-practise investigation.
The ASA said it was using its AI-based advertising monitoring system to scan for advertisements that breach the notice.
Commenting on the notice, Wing Tang, head of professional standards at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “We welcome this reminder from the GPhC, ASA and MHRA to stop illegal advertising of prescription-only weight-loss medicines. Promoting named prescription medicines through social media, influencers or targeted advertising risks undermining the safeguards that exist to protect patient safety.
“These promotions can give a false impression that these medicines are suitable for everyone, when in fact they carry risks, should only be prescribed following proper clinical assessment and only be used under the supervision of a qualified professional. We’re glad to see the regulators continuing to work together to protect patient safety.”
Meanwhile, MHRA rulings on advertisements have covered weight-loss drugs at least once a month on average for the past year.
Weight-loss drugs are featured more frequently than other types of drugs in the MHRA’s list of decisions it has made after investigating complaints about advertising licensed medicines.
The MHRA has reported one case regarding weight-loss drugs per month every month since March 2024, excluding January 2025 when it did so twice, and October 2024 when no cases were featured.
