Tesco Pharmacy and two other companies – The Harper Clinic and Davies Pharmacy Havant, Southdowns Pharmacy Group – have faced Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) action for violating rules related to prescription-only medicines.
The regulatory body had found that the three pharmacies were promoting prescription-only medicines for weight loss to the public, and they have now amended their advertising.
The rules disallow even indirect references to weight loss injections or GLP-1 medication that could persuade someone to buy the medicine.
While the information on a particular condition or disease may be provided on websites, care must be taken when providing information relating to prescription-only medicines.
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code says that medicines must have a licence from the MHRA before they are marketed and that prescription-only medicines or prescription-only medical treatments cannot be advertised to the public.
Last month, the MHRA, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) jointly issued a warning to businesses seeking to promote newly licensed prescription-only medicines and unlicensed medicines for weight management.
The three agencies have worked in tandem to ensure professional standards and patient safety.
