Committee publication · Correspondence · 28 April 2026
Correspondence from the MHRA- Follow up from 25 March session
From: Health and Social Care Committee
Inquiry: Food and Weight Management
Summary
The MHRA responds to five written questions from the Health and Social Care Committee following its 25 March 2026 oral evidence session on food and weight management. The Agency clarifies its Yellow Card adverse event reporting data limitations, confirms it does not distinguish NHS from private prescriptions, states it is unaware of pharmaceutical companies offering discount codes to influencers (though third-party treatment providers do), and reports that 96% of its 190,000 disrupted websites and social media links in 2024–25 were proactively identified rather than reported.
Key findings
- MHRA cannot differentiate NHS from private prescriptions in Yellow Card reporting and does not collect data on pharmacy type (online vs. in-person), limiting comparative analysis of reporting rates.
- MHRA is unaware of pharmaceutical companies offering discount codes to influencers; however, private clinics and treatment service providers have been observed doing so.
- Of approximately 190,000 weblinks and social media posts disrupted between April 2024 and March 2025, approximately 7,000 (3.7%) resulted from public reports; the remaining 183,000 (96%) were proactively initiated by MHRA.
- MHRA works with DiCE network (Digital Clinical Excellence) to strengthen pharmacovigilance activities and encourage consistent Yellow Card reporting among member organisations.
- Online disruption numbers do not reliably represent the scale of illegal medicine sales; criminal activity is highly dynamic with websites rapidly replaced or migrated across platforms.
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Layla Moran MP, Andy Morling, Dr Alison Cave, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), DiCE network (Digital Clinical Excellence network), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), General Pharmaceutical Council
Notable line
“Online disruption numbers are not a reliable proxy for the overall scale of illegal sales of medicines online.”
Key Quotes
“The MHRA does not collect information on whether a prescription was provided via the NHS or privately.”
“The MHRA is not aware of any pharmaceutical companies offering discount codes. However, we have observed third parties such as private clinics and treatment service providers doing so.”
“… of approximately 190,000 weblinks and social media posts disrupted by the MHRA between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, around 7,000 were the result of public reporting into the MHRA 's Criminal Enforcement Unit. The remaining 183,000 disruptions, approximately 96% of the total, were initiated proactively by the MHRA.”
“… online disruption activity often involves multiple and repeat interventions against the same underlying criminal actors.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗