Category: General

Action: Botox and other prescription-only medicines should not be advertised to the public.  Please consult Copy Advice before accepting ads for what you suspect might be prescription-only medicines.

Botox and other prescription-only medicines should not be advertised to the public.  Please consult Copy Advice before accepting ads for what you suspect might be prescription-only medicines.
 
In recent months the CAP Compliance team has taken action against many advertisements that offer, refer to or allude to prescription-only medicines (POMs).   Most of the action concerned Botox or Viagra but we have also asked advertisers and publishers to remove ads for other POMs.

Clause 50.12 of the CAP Code states “Prescription only medicines may not be advertised to the public.”  This Code clause reflects The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) advice that advertising prescription-only medicines to the public is illegal under The Medicines Act 1968.

There are three categories in the health and beauty sector that are most commonly associated with problematic advertising of POMs: cosmetic treatments (injectibles), hair replacement programmes and impotence or erectile dysfunction products.  It is not always obvious from an advertisement whether a product is a medicine or whether a treatment programme involves the use of medicines, but trademarked or copyrighted names often give a clue that a medicine is being used.

We would be grateful to receive CAP members’ co-operation in helping to ensure that ads for POMs are not placed.  Please consult the CAP Copy Advice Team if you are unsure about ads or the Code’s requirements