Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to regulate the provision of injections of (a) dermal fillers and (b) weight-loss medications.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The majority of the medicines that can be used for weight management, including injectable medicines containing liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide, are prescription only medicines. They cannot be advertised, including through social media, to the general public or supplied without a valid prescription. The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (HMR) tightly regulate the manufacture, sale, and supply of such products.

Through its dedicated Criminal Enforcement Unit, the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works with partners to enforce the HMR and to disrupt the illegal trade in weight loss and other medicines. Selling or supplying weight loss medicines without a prescription is a criminal offence, and the MHRA takes robust and proportionate enforcement action where non-compliance is identified, including prosecution where appropriate.

The Government is currently exploring what steps may need to be taken regarding the safety of the cosmetics sector, including in relation to the provision of dermal filler and weight loss injections for cosmetic purposes. The Government will set out its position at the earliest opportunity.

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