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Nine investigations into weight loss jab adverts have been launched by the UK advertising regulator, which has raised concerns about the sheer volume of law-breaking involved in targeting the public with the drugs.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told The Independent it now has nine high-priority investigations underway into whether ads in various online media are promoting prescription-only medicines (POMs) in breach of its rules and the law.
Issues being probed include the use of unbranded injection or pen images, as well as claims such as “weight loss injections” and “Obesity Treatment Jab”.
The ASA described the number of investigations running in parallel on the same topic as “significant” and said that tackling the issue is a “priority”.
It comes after the regulator issued a warning to advertisers for weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, in December, which kickstarted the launch of a cross-organisational crackdown that is currently being scaled up.
The ASA confirmed that among its ongoing investigations is one into an online ad by Juniper, which the healthcare brand said it has now removed. The regulator has received complaints about various ads by Juniper, which led to it also issuing the company with a notice highlighting potential breaches of its rules.
One sponsored ad by Juniper posted on Instagram reads, “Find out if you’re eligible for the weight loss medication that is ‘too effective for the NHS to handle’,” above a news article using a similar quote.
Referring to the brand, the regulator said: “Alongside the issue of their ads potentially promoting prescription-only medicine to the public (prohibited by our law and the rules), other broader concerns we have include the potential misleadingness of implying NHS workers ‘choose Juniper’. which also runs contrary to the rules that prohibit health professionals or celebrities endorsing medicines.”
The December warning stated: “Weight-loss drugs that are prescription-only medicines (POMs) should only be prescribed by a qualified medical professional. Reflecting this, the law and our advertising rules prohibit them being advertised directly or indirectly to the public.
“From paid-for online ads to social media and via influencers, various prescription-only medicines including for Ozempic, Wegovy (semaglutide), Saxenda (liraglutide) and products such as ‘skinny jabs’ and ‘flab jabs’, are being advertised against the rules.”
Health secretary Wes Streeting has warned that the drugs “should not be taken to help get a body beautiful picture for Instagram” and must be treated as “serious medicines”. Drugs for weight management “should only be used by those tackling obesity,” he added.
The pharmacy regulator has now tightened prescription rules to prevent weight-loss medicines from being supplied “inappropriately”, with people now no longer able to get the drugs after completing a simple online questionnaire.
Groups including the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) had been calling for tougher rules after they learnt of people being wrongly prescribed the drugs without thorough checks, including some who already had a low body weight or who previously had eating disorders.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said last week that it was responding to those concerns, telling online pharmacies they can now only prescribe the weight-loss drugs following a proper two-way consultation with the patient, and they must verify their body mass index.
The GPhC said it was working closely with both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to jointly tackle inappropriate advertising and promotions.
Weight-loss jabs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by reducing food craving and are available on the NHS. Hundreds of thousands of people also get their prescriptions privately through online pharmacies.
The UK medicines regulator has asked doctors to look out for “signs of misuse” of weight loss drugs among their patients amid reports that people are taking the drugs for “aesthetic” weight loss and are taking medicines even though they are not obese.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that the “benefits and risks of using these medicines for weight loss by individuals who do not have obesity or who are not overweight with weight-related comorbidities have not been studied”.
A spokesperson for Juniper said: “We take all advertising complaints very seriously, and while we work to resolve the matter with the ASA, we have removed the affected ad from circulation. We encourage other industry players to demonstrate the same level of cooperation.
“It is important to emphasise that Juniper’s approach to patient safety is industry-leading, and we embrace the new GPhC guidelines as we continue to add to our 18 peer-reviewed studies attesting to the rigour of our platform.”
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk – the company that makes Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda – said: “Novo Nordisk does not condone the promotion of prescription only medicines to the public in the UK. When we are made aware of providers promoting our medicines to the public, we address this with the provider directly, and in many cases report this to the relevant authorities. This includes the MHRA and ASA.”
Referring to the nine ongoing investigations, the ASA added: “This is a priority area and the outcome of these investigations will set clear precedents for advertisers and underpin our follow-up enforcement work. The ASA is dedicating considerable resource to this area and we anticipate that continuing throughout 2025.”
