Medicines, remedies and therapies

Helpful information on the advertising rules for medicines, remedies and therapies and examples of previous Advertising Standards Authority rulings in this area.

Before advertisers can make medicinal claims in their ads – a claim that a product can treat or prevent disease, injury, ailment or adverse condition - they must be sure their product is classified as a medicine under the advertising rules. This means the product needs to be classified by the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a medicine and the advertisers must hold the relevant licence before marketing the product in the UK. All ads for the product then must conform with this licence and with the product’s summary of product characteristics (SPC).

Once this has been established, ads must then follow the rules for medicines which include: not addressing children, not suggesting the products effects are guaranteed or absolutely safe with no side-effects, and not using health professionals or celebrities to endorse the medicine. Prescription-only medicines are prohibited from being advertised to the public and claims for so-called herbal alternatives are equally likely to be problematic.

For homeopathic medicinal products registered in the UK, ads must include a warning to consult a doctor if symptoms persist. Likewise, it is mandatory for ads for traditional herbal medicinal products to include a statement that makes reference to the fact the product is “based on traditional use only” and to not infer evidence for the product’s efficacy is based on clinical trial data.

Advertising in the health industry is not just confined to medicines and products and there are also strict rules for healthcare professionals advertising their services. This includes homeopathy, osteopathy and chiropractic services. The advertising rules provide a detailed list of conditions that these professionals can claim in their ads to treat, and a detailed list of those they cannot. It is important all these professionals are able to back up any claims made in their ads, including in testimonials, with robust evidence and that they avoid claiming they can “cure”, “prevent” or “heal” conditions with their therapies.

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Latest rulings

GLP-1 Pro Ltd t/a GuLP-1
- Upheld
- 06 May 2026
Two webpages for a food supplement company made claims that a supplement could prevent, treat or cure human disease and made unauthorised health and medicinal claims. The ads also compared the effects of a food supplement to those associated with weight-loss prescr...
Medilife Clinic Enfield
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 06 May 2026
A paid-for Instagram ad for a health clinic made claims that their treatments could alleviate or treat the traits of autism without suitable evidence to support these claims. The ad also discouraged essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.
Juniper Technologies UK Ltd t/a Juniper
- Upheld
- Social media (influencer or affiliate ad)
- 08 April 2026
Posts in weight-loss support groups on Facebook didn't make clear they were paid for by the advertiser and they promoted prescription-only medicines to the public, which is against the law and our rules.
Juniper Technologies UK Ltd t/a Juniper
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad), Website (own site)
- 08 April 2026
A paid-for Facebook ad for an online pharmacy was socially irresponsible and likely to cause harm or serious and widespread offence by exploiting new mothers’ insecurities about body image and perpetuating pressure for them to conform to body image stereotypes. They also promoted prescription-only medicines to th...

View all rulings

Medicines, remedies and therapies

Helpful information on the advertising rules for medicines, remedies and therapies and examples of previous Advertising Standards Authority rulings in this area.

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11 Medicines, medical devices, treatments and health