Appearing in Ballymena Magistrates court on February 25, Daniel O’Neill pleaded guilty to the offence.
The Department of Health’s Medicines Regulatory Group (MRG) had sent an enforcement officer to Mr O’Neill’s gym located in Ross Court, Ballymena on October 9, 2025.
Whilst attending the defendant’s DISQ gym business, the officer “discovered and seized unlicensed weight-loss medicines intended for sale or supply”.
Read more: Social posts advertising weight loss jabs via affiliate links banned
The Department of Health’s senior medicines enforcement officer, Peter Moore, said the “conviction sends a clear message that there are consequences if a person attempts to bypass the regulated system and controls which are in place.”
“This investigation has confirmed unlicensed medication in circulation, which presents a real risk of adverse health effects,” he added. “We continue to monitor the marketplace and will take effective action where this is necessary.”
Risk to public safety
The MRG’s interim head, Aaron McKendry, said the “risk to public safety posed by the unlawful distribution and misuse of unauthorised medicinal products in Northern Ireland is a serious issue.”
“It is extremely important that people take prescription-only medicines after consultation with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professionals who have access to patient health records and can consider the risks and benefits associated with every medicine.”
In England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recently raided two premises in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire which they believed were “used for the manufacture and distribution of unlicensed weight loss medicines”.
Retatrutide, tirzepatide and peptide products were found among the “almost 2,000 doses of unauthorised weight loss medicines awaiting dispatch to customers”.
The MHRA also recently caught a Birmingham based online pharmacy, the Private Pharmacy Clinic, selling “fake weight loss jabs”.
The MHRA said that “all Mounjaro KwikPen 15mg products with the batch number D873576” sold by the pharmacy were fake, with dose knobs coming off while in use.
