MHRA and CAP take action against illegal ‘hay fever injection’ adverts online 

Following several high-profile rulings by the Advertising Standards Authority, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) have issued a joint enforcement notice about the advertising of Kenalog injections on social media. 

This enforcement notice warns all businesses offering Kenalog injections as a treatment for hay fever to stop advertising it in any of their social media and website advertising by 29 August 2022. 

Kenalog or triamcinolone injections are corticosteroids injections used for a wide variety of conditions to reduce inflammation including arthritis and joint pain. Allergy UK do not recommend the use of these injections in the treatment of hay fever or allergic rhinitis. This is in line with current UK guidelines due to the health risks and side effects of this type of medication. 

Kenalog injections deliver a large dose of corticosteroid into the body to reduce inflammation, the injection is not targeted to one particular area, unlike for example corticosteroid asthma inhalers where the medicine is a small, measured dose, delivered directly to the lungs and so there is minimal risk of side effects to the rest of the body. Therefore, when injected, Kenalog (triamcinolone) affects every body system including your immune system making you more susceptible to serious side effects and infection. 

Allergy UK, the leading national charity working for people living with all kinds of allergic conditions, welcomes this major step forward in ensuring patients with hay fever are protected against false advertisements.