The Advertising Standards Authority has banned adverts for oral weight loss medicines for the first time, in two of a batch of five rulings against online pharmacies published on 7 October 2026. The two oral cases went against Simple Online Healthcare Ltd, trading as Simple Online Pharmacy, and Express Healthcare Ltd, trading as Pharmacy Online. Both concerned adverts that ran in June 2026, which the ASA found had appeared before the oral treatment in question held a UK marketing authorisation. A Simple Online Pharmacy Instagram advert carried the words "NO NEEDLE. COMING SOON." with an invitation to join a waiting list, and its landing page said that oral GLP-1 treatment was coming to the UK. A Pharmacy Online website pop-up invited customers to pre-order a named tablet and save £30. The ASA cited CAP Code rules 12.1, 12.11 and 12.12, which cover unlicensed medicines, medicinal claims and the advertising of prescription-only medicines to the public.
Indirect wording was enough to breach the code
Several rulings turned on indirect references rather than brand names. The ASA said consumers would understand phrases such as "no more needles" and "no fridge" as comparisons with the injectable prescription medicines already sold in the UK, which made the adverts promotions for prescription-only medicines even where no product was named. Catherine Drewett, an ASA investigations manager, described the decisions as the first rulings in this part of the market. The other three rulings, against MedExpress, Juniper and The Care Pharmacy, concerned adverts for injectable weight loss medicines and were upheld under rule 12.12 alone. All five advertisers were told the adverts must not appear again in the form investigated, and not to promote prescription-only medicines to the public.
What this means in practice
These rulings concern prescription medicines, which may not be advertised to the public at all. Food supplements fall under a different part of the same code and may carry only the nutrition and health claims authorised on the GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register, used in the authorised wording and at the conditions of use. That register applies in Great Britain; Northern Ireland continues to follow the EU register, so permitted claim wording can differ. Anyone who saw a pre-order offer for an oral weight management tablet this summer now has the regulator’s view on it, which is that those adverts should not have run.
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This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.