This week, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has made a series of rulings banning adverts from healthcare firms, including a ruling banning a social media post from TV personality Gemma Collins that promoted weight loss service Yazen.
Eight of the ten rulings were part of a wider piece of work on prescription-only medicines (POMs) used for weight loss.
The Instagram post from Collins was posted on 6 January 2025. In a short video, Collins stated: “I’m starting this year two sizes down, thanks to Yazen’s weight loss app and medication.
“It’s really quick and easy to get started with Yazen, it has absolutely changed my life […] I finally found something that actually I lose weight on. All you need to do is download the app and answer a few quick questions about your goals. Do not buy it from anyone but Yazen.”
The ASA investigated the content after it was flagged by two complainants who believed it may breach the CAP code as it promoted POMs to the general public.
Yaezen Health responded to the queries, highlighting that its digital platform had been developed by a specialist team of healthcare professionals. It added that its plans were based on “clinically proven science” and patients had access to doctors, lifestyle coaches, dietitians, psychologists, and physiotherapists.
As part of its treatment options, doctors might prescribe POMs if it is found to be the best option, making the firm a digital healthcare provider, not a pharmacy.
Patients were then asked to purchase the necessary medication from their local pharmacy. Yazen highlighted that it did not sell any medication.
As part of its investigation, the regulator asked the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for advice. The body expressed its concern that the public would ask for POMs.
It ruled the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 12.12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products) and told Yazen Health that the ad must not appear again. The regulator added that Yazen Health was not to promote POMs to the public in the future.
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Weight Loss
The watchdog also made a series of rulings against other healthcare companies promoting weight loss injections to the public after its Active Ad Monitoring system flagged them.
The companies were Chequp Health, Express Health t/a pharmacyonline.co.uk, Phlo Technologies Ltd t/a Phlo Clinic, Hexpress Healthcare t/a HealthExpress.co.uk, Juniper Technologies UK, PharmaRx Ltd t/a Cloud Pharmacy and SemaPen.
It banned their advertising content as it promoted PMOs and ruled that the ads must not appear again in the form complained of.
Detox Today
In two other rulings, the ASA also banned an ad from Detox Today, a service helping those suffering from alcohol addiction and Nipper and Co, a herbal health firm.
The regulator investigated Detox Today after a complaint from a director of a drug and alcohol treatment charity. The complainant queried whether the ad was misleading, as it could imply that the company provided registered medical treatment.
Detox Today responded to the watchdog’s concerns, stating that it had already made changes to the website after receiving concerns from another party. The firm stated that it employed one individual and offered remote private treatments to support those who struggled to stop drinking.
It added that its services did not need to be Care Quality Commission registered, explaining that its home detox service had two main steps: a referral to a private but registered doctor, who would oversee the detox and provide any necessary medication. The second step would be therapy and support from Detox itself.
The ASA said: “Taken as a whole, we considered that the website did not make a clear delineation between the services offered directly by Detox Today and those performed by third-party professionals.
“As a consequence, we considered consumers were likely to understand that Detox Today directly provided medical services and had medically qualified staff. The implication of claiming to offer such services was therefore that Detox Today had CQC registration; however, that was not the case. We concluded, therefore, that the website was misleading.”
It banned the campaign and told the advertiser it must not appear again in its current form.
Nipper and Co
The ASA also upheld a ruling against Nipper and Co, a herbal health brand promoting lactation tea.
The ad was published on 23 March 2025 and the text in the caption read: “Our 100% natural lactation tea is made with powerful botanicals [leaf emoji] to encourage breast milk supply and postpartum hormonal balance. It’s helped 1000s of mums on their feeding journey […]”.
It was challenged by a complainant who believed the ad included health claims that were in breach of the Code.
Nipper and Co responded to the ASA’s concerns, stating it had removed the ad and was “fully committed to ensuring compliance” with the Code.
The watchdog said: “We considered those were specific health claims for the purposes of the Code. However, we had not seen any evidence which demonstrated that those claims were authorised on the GB NHC Register.
“We welcomed Nipper & Co’s action to remove the ad. However, because at the time it was seen it included specific health claims, which were not authorised on the GB NHC Register, we concluded that it breached the Code.”
It therefore banned the ad and told the firm that it must ensure that future content did not include misleading health claims.
