Weight loss jabs – private access and regulation – examined by MPs
Private sector provision of weight loss medication will be examined by the Health and Social Care Committee, as well as concerns about regulation of black market products and of eligibility and safety checks being circumvented online.
Meeting details
There will be questions about improving access to weight loss medications on the NHS, appraisals of their cost-effectiveness, and whether providers are also offering effective wrap-around care alongside the medications.
In this session, MPs will question witnesses from Boots UK, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and others.
In July 2025, 2.37 million packs of weight-loss jabs, known as GLP1s, were prescribed to individuals in the UK – up from 490,000 in July 2024, according to clinical research company IQVIA.
A poll last year by the National Pharmacy Association also found that 21% of the UK public had attempted to access weight loss treatments in the last year through an online or in-person pharmacy.
Only a small proportion of individuals using GLP1s – Mounjaro and Wegovy – are accessing them via the NHS. This is because regional commissioning bodies don’t have the resources to provide them for all patients who meet the NHS’s eligibility criteria, according to the Health Foundation.
Meanwhile, the MHRA has said it is trying to tackle dangerous online advertising of GLP1s and seizing illegally traded products that are sold online and via beauty salons. These have included drugs containing dangerous levels of insulin and products not licenced in the UK.