Habitual Healthcare Ltd (trading as tryhabitual.com) has amended its marketing practices following MHRA action on a complaint, to ensure that Prescription-Only Medicines for weight loss are not promoted to the public.

The company informed the MHRA that they had taken steps to ensure that arrangements with content creators on social media with whom they worked were in compliance with the advertising Regulations, including the requirement that Prescription-Only Medicines are prohibited from being advertised to the general public. The Regulations outline that “a person” can be in breach of the Regulations.

The action taken by the company included: asking content creators to remove unique tracking links to the Habitual website; deactivation of unique discount codes given to content creators; and updating of internal procedures for collaborating with content creators in future.

The MHRA would encourage all treatment service providers to review their commercial relationships with third parties as required to ensure all parties comply with the advertising Regulations.

The homepage of the Habitual website was also reviewed and updated to ensure no promotion of prescription medicines, in line with the MHRA Blue Guide.

The list relates to specific advertising action taken on a particular date and is no endorsement of the ongoing practices of the website. 

You can see details of MHRA guidance for providers that offer medicinal treatment services in Appendix 6 of the MHRA Blue Guide. See also the joint enforcement notice in operation with the Advertising Standards Authority to prevent the promotion of Prescription-Only Medicines for weight loss on social media.