The GPhC, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have issued an updated joint Enforcement Notice making clear that adverts for named prescription-only medicines (POMs) for weight-management are prohibited.
The GPhC, ASA and MHRA are working together to remind advertisers of the rules and that action will be taken to tackle such ads targeted at people in the UK.
The Enforcement Notice was first issued and sent to pharmacy owners and Superintendent Pharmacists in April 2025. It reminds advertisers that advertising POMs, including those used for weight management, is banned. It also sets out the enforcement action the GPhC, ASA and MHRA will take against advertisers and businesses.
The updated Enforcement Notice follows nine ASA rulings published in July, which gave clear examples of where, even without naming specific prescription-only medicines, ads were still seen as promoting weight-loss POMs.
Advertisers should avoid:
- language that refers to POMs, such as “weight-loss injection”, “obesity treatment jab” or “GLP-1”
- imagery likely to be understood as depicting an injection pen
- ads for general weight management products or services that direct consumers to other ads, such as website landing pages, promoting POMs