Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that second generation GLP-1 weight management medications are being (a) sold and (b) marketed according to their licence specifications.

The Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are members of the GLP1-RA Incident Management Team. Risk management in relation to the advertising and sale of these medicinal products is a standing item for discussion.

MHRA is obliged to consider complaints received about the advertisement of prescription-only medicines (POMs) to the public. Advertising investigations are carried out on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the circumstances of the particular case. Completed advertising investigations leading to correction of advertising materials are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/advertising-investigations-by-mhra

MHRA works closely with other regulators to help ensure that the public are protected from the advertising of POMs. A joint enforcement operation is in place with the Advertising Standards Authority to take targeted action against weight-loss treatment providers who use social media to promote POMs.

MHRA takes proportionate action, on a case-by-case basis, to enforce the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 in respect of the advertisement, sale, and supply of second-generation glucagon-like peptide 1 weight management medications. In cases of serious non-compliance, this can include undertaking formal criminal investigations and, where appropriate and evidentially supported, prosecution through the Crown Prosecution Service.