Watchdog slams doctors after claims unlicensed cream can treat menopause symptoms

A historic Scottish herbal treatment company has been slammed by viewers for advertising on TikTok videos that claim one of its products can treat menopausal symptoms.

Napiers The Herbalists, which has been a business for over 160 years in Edinburgh, used social media influencers to connect their followers with Wild Yam skin cream.

The creators of TikTok, each of whom was paid a commission for their approval, talked about how the cream helped reduce the symptoms of menopause.

They also suggest that the product could be used as a ‘natural’ treatment rather than hormone replacement therapy.

Five ads have now been banned following an investigation into them by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The expert decided that no medical claims could be made for the cream because it was not licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

In one of the videos, TikTok influencer Kate Ring said the cream is “much better than any medicine you can take to balance hormones”.

In another video, fitness and health enthusiast Yiolanda Koppel said she has ‘no night sweats, no fatigue, no brain fog, no body aches, no anxiety, no anger’ since he started using the product.

In its decision, the ASA said: ‘The ASA considered that consumers could understand claims that Napiers’ Wild Yam Cream could treat perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Therefore, the product was required to be licensed as a medicine in order to allow such claims. However, we understood that this product did not have proper marketing authorization from the MHRA and as a result no medical claims could be made for the product.

‘Because the ads made medical claims for a product that was not licensed, we concluded that they were in breach of the Code.

‘Ads should not appear again in the form complained of. We have told Napiers The Herbalists to ensure that future adverts do not make medical claims for unlicensed products.’

Napiers said its cream was not intended to treat or cure any disease, so no approval was required under the MHRA’s approval. It argued that it was wrong to classify perimenopause as a medical condition and said it was not treated as such by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The company believed it was right for TikTok creators to use their experience of using the cream to treat their symptoms, giving women a platform to speak out, and worried that restricting such speech would be and the negative effect. However, it said that all advertisements have been removed and that it will ensure that content related to the brand and all their products are consistent in the future.

Napiers was founded in 1860 by Duncan Napier, a Victorian botanist who collected herbs and plants from Edinburgh and the surrounding area. As well as its historic center in Edinburgh, the firm also has clinics in Glasgow and Bathgate, West Lothian.

Napiers has been approached for comment.