A beauty therapist has appeared in court accused of illegally selling the weight loss jab Mounjaro to clients
Karen Halton, 50, who runs a by-appointment beauty treatment business, denies selling injectable weight management and diabetes medication without a prescription
Tirzepatide, also known by the brand name Mounjaro, is approved by the NHS to help manage obesity and related health conditions but is only available on prescription
Advertisement
Advertisement
Halton, of Bury Road, Thetford, pleaded not guilty at Norwich Magistrates’ Court to having sold it illegally in September 2025
She also denies selling or offering to sell suspected counterfeit medications purporting to be Mounjaro
District Judge Matthew Bone granted her unconditional bail until a trial date of October 16
The boom in use of weight-loss treatments has seen a spike in illegal sales and criminal gangs involved in the production of counterfeit products
A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: “Most authorised weight loss medicines are prescription-only, meaning that a consultation with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional must be conducted to assess the patient’s suitability for the treatment
“Sourcing weight loss medicines from unregulated suppliers significantly increases the risk of getting a product which is either falsified or not approved for use in the UK.”
