Please note: This article was updated on 05/09/25 and 08/09/25 to clarify that the GPhC enforcement action was taken specifically against Dam Pharmacy in Marylebone, not against Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic. While C+D’s investigation established corporate connections between the entities through shared directors and registered addresses, Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic and Dam Pharmacy are separate legal entities. Dr Frank’s online clinic and Liverpool operations are unaffected by this enforcement action.
Dam Pharmacy, a London pharmacy with corporate links to weight loss clinic Dr Frank’s, has been ordered not to “obtain, sell or supply injectable medicines containing glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) or any injectable medicines used for weight loss”, C+D can reveal. Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic itself was not subject to the enforcement action.
The premises – which trades as Dam Pharmacy and is located in Marylebone – has been issued with an “enforcement action” notice from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) following an inspection last month.
Howell Medical Group Limited (trading as Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic) and Dam Pharmacy share corporate connections through parent company structures, registered addresses, and director Kevin Dryhurst. However, as Dr Frank’s representatives have clarified, ‘The enforcement action taken by the GPhC relates solely to Dam Pharmacy in Marylebone, which is a separate legal entity and not part of the clinical governance regulated by the CQC for Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic.’
Dam Pharmacy told C+D that it was “not dispensing GLP-1 medications at the time” due to a “voluntary closure”. Read its response in full below.
Read more: Weight loss clinic admits affiliate codes shared ‘against regulations’
The regulator said an “inspection of Dam Pharmacy on August 13 found system-wide failures in the operation of the pharmacy which presents a serious risk to patient safety.”
It stressed that these risks were “heightened by the nature of the services provided”, namely the “supply of prescription-only weight loss treatments”.
According to the GPhC, these had been “issued by third-party prescribing services without adequate risk management and safeguards in place”.
“Serious” failings
“The serious nature of the failings was such that conditions were required to protect the safety and wellbeing of the public”, the regulator said.
The GPhC found that the pharmacy failed to show that “the risks associated with providing pharmacy services are identified and managed”.
Read more: Chemist4U profits more than double as standards ‘not all met’
And it also failed to prove that pharmacy services were “delivered safely and effectively”, it said.
The enforcement action notice revealed that the ban was imposed last week (August 28) and remains “ongoing”.
“Highest standards”
When C+D contacted Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic for comment via phone and email, we received a response from a representative of Dam Pharmacy, the London pharmacy subject to the GPhC enforcement action. The representative told C+D yesterday (September 4) that “while it met the vast majority of requirements during the inspection, the pharmacy was already undergoing a staged voluntary closure and was not dispensing GLP-1 medications at the time”.
“As part of the staged closure, not all documentation was on site, having been transferred to an administration office, and was therefore not available to the inspector,” they said.
“Dam Pharmacy is currently working with the GPhC and the inspector to provide additional information surrounding the clinic in question,” they added.
Read more: Indie owed thousands in private Wegovy scripts after corporate clash
The Dam Pharmacy representative told C+D that Dam Pharmacy “takes all issues raised by the GPhC very seriously and will address them with the utmost responsibility and commitment to maintaining the highest standards of patient care, safety and regulatory compliance”.
The GPhC did not comment on the enforcement notice but reiterated its message from last week on concerns about “inappropriate marketing messages and advice” relating to medicines used for weight management such as Mounjaro and Wegovy.
“Not meeting [GPhC] standards could result in enforcement action against owners, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians”, the regulator’s chief enforcement officer Dionne Spence said.
Dr Frank’s Weight Loss Clinic, which operates online services and has connections to a Liverpool pharmacy location, has not been subject to GPhC enforcement action. According to their representatives, ‘Dr Frank’s Liverpool clinic and online services remain fully operational, compliant and unaffected.’"
Read more: BREAKING: Lilly hikes Mounjaro price to address ‘inconsistencies’
Last week’s warning from the GPhC highlighted “growing concerns” about inappropriate advertising following Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lilly’s announcement last month that it would hike the UK list price for the weight loss jab by up to 170% from this month.
This caused chaos across the sector, with numerous online pharmacies facing Mounjaro stock shortages and Lilly confirming it had frozen orders from wholesalers until the medicine’s price rise came into effect.
In May, C+D revealed that Dr Frank’s had threatened to “withhold” the commission of its affiliate scheme members after discovering some were sharing discount codes along with pricing information and medication names.
