If you have looked at more than a couple of clinic websites you will have noticed that some name the product used for wrinkle injections and some do not. The ones that do are breaking the rules.
The rule
In the UK, prescription only medicines cannot be advertised to the public. It applies to any medicine that requires a prescription, which includes the botulinum toxin products used for wrinkle injections and the medicines used in weight management programmes. It covers websites, social media, price lists and window displays.
So the treatment is called Anti-Wrinkle Injections here, and the programme is called the Medical Weight Loss Programme. Not because we are being coy, but because naming them in public would be unlawful.
Why the rule is a good one
A prescription only medicine is prescription only because it needs someone qualified to decide whether it is right for you. Advertising a specific product to the public reverses that: you arrive having already chosen, and the consultation becomes an obstacle to get past rather than a decision to make.
The weight loss medicines are the clearest example. Demand has been driven almost entirely by brand recognition, and a substantial part of it comes from people who are not eligible. A rule that forces the conversation back to the consulting room is doing something useful.
What this means for you
You can still ask, and we will still answer, in consultation. Ask which product a clinic uses, what dose, who is prescribing it, and whether the prescriber will be in the room. Those are the questions worth asking, and a clinic that advertises the brand on its homepage has already told you something about how carefully it reads the rules it works under.