Boots pharmacies across Britain have been caught selling weight loss jabs to underage teenagers without proper age verification.
A bombshell investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches found a 16-year-old undercover reporter was able to purchase the medication on two separate occasions despite Boots’s policy stating they do not prescribe to under-18s.
The teenager gave a false date of birth on her online application, claiming to be 18.
When collecting the medication in-store, she was only asked to verbally confirm her date of birth.
Boots pharmacies across Britain have been caught selling weight loss jabs to underage teenagers
GETTY
No photo ID was requested during either purchase, even after new pharmacy regulations were introduced in February 2025.
Alima Batchelor from the Pharmacists’ Defence Association warned the underage sales represented “a systemic failure” by pharmacies, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the findings as “deeply concerning”.
“These are licensed medicines with potentially serious side effects, so it is totally unacceptable for any retailer to prescribe them without the correct medical supervision and ID and age verification,” Streeting said.
The Health Secretary has now said he expects regulatory bodies to investigate and take action against rogue prescribers.
The investigation also found nurses, including those working in the NHS, selling weight loss jabs privately without proper checks.
MORE HEALTH SCANDALS:
A 16-year-old undercover reporter was able to purchase the medication on two separate occasions
CHANNEL 4
Undercover reporters with BMIs well below the minimum requirement were prescribed the drugs.
Some nurses sent prescriptions without any verification of weight, while others failed to weigh reporters during in-person collections.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS’s National Medical Director, expressed serious concerns about the findings.
“It is deeply concerning to hear that more people are accessing weight loss drugs online without proper eligibility and safety checks,” he said.
The medications can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, nausea and pancreatitis that may require hospitalisation.
In response, Boots said that “patient safety is our number one priority” and vowed that they had strengthened their ID policy following updated guidance.
Wes Streeting has now said he expects regulatory bodies to investigate and take action
PA
“We will further review our processes in consultation with GPhC and Care Quality Commission,” they added.
The pharmacy chain urged people not to falsify health information to obtain prescription medicine.
The Channel 4 probe also asked all 42 Integrated Care Boards across England how many patients are being prescribed the medication – and revealed that in four health board areas and at four NHS hospital trusts, no patients at all are getting weight loss on the NHS.
The four health board areas are: Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Greater Manchester, Kent and Medway and Dorset.
While the four hospital trusts are Doncaster and Bassetlaw, University Hospitals Birmingham, York and Scarborough and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
In the North East of England, almost 70 per cent of adults are obese or overweight, but the majority cannot access jabs on the NHS.
Dr Paul Evans, a GP in Gateshead, said: “We’ve had a lot of patients who have come to us asking for these jabs for weight loss and so far we’ve had to tell them: ‘I’m sorry, but we can’t do that.’
“This is not the leafy suburbs, this is not the stockbroker belt… So if you want the definition of a two-tier health system, this is it.”
“Skinny Jab Scandal: Dispatches” is available to watch and stream on Channel 4 at 8pm on Tuesday, March 4.