Woman fined for ‘unlawfully’ advertising Botox on 'Doll House Beauty' website

Nadine Poole received £600 in fines after she pleaded guilty to six charges at Lisburn Magistrates’ Court.

Botox injection
DoH officials seized “a quantity of unlicensed medicinal products”

A woman who unlawfully advertised Botox on her social media pages has been fined £600, Northern Ireland’s country’s department of health (DoH) announced last week (August 20).

Nadine Poole, of Whitehill Lodge in Lisburn, pleaded guilty to six charges relating to breaches of the Human Medicines Regulations at Lisburn Magistrates’ Court following an investigation by the DoH’s medicines regulatory group.

The DoH investigators found that Poole’s “Doll House Beauty” pages on social media had published advertisements for the prescription-only medicine (POM) Botulinum toxin, or Botox, between September and October 2023.

Read more: Four ‘pending’ prosecutions in NI over illicit weight loss drugs

Then in November 2023, an enforcement officer working for the DOH’s medicines regulator visited Poole’s premises in Bangor, County Down where she was “providing treatments”. 

At the premises, DoH officials seized “a quantity of unlicensed medicinal products” which included meditoxin (Botox), lidocaine, sodium chloride and hyaluronidase.

“Consequences”

The DoH official who directed the investigation Peter Moore said that Poole’s conviction and fine showed that there are “consequences for those who bypass the regulated system which is in place to ensure the integrity of the medicines supply chain”. 

Moore said that “cosmetic clinics and other similar outlets” should “review their websites and social media material” to make sure that they are legally compliant.

Read more: ‘Limitless’ online drug availability puts lives ‘at risk’, coroner warns after death

The head of DoH’s medicines regulatory group Canice Ward said that POMs should be used only “after seeking appropriate advice from a healthcare professional”. 

She added that the DoH is “taking all possible steps to combat the illegal promotion, supply or misuse of medicines”.

James Stent

Read more by James Stent

James Stent joined C+D as a digital reporter in May 2023 from the South African human rights news agency GroundUp, where he was senior reporter and consultant editor.

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