Doctors will be banned from prescribing anti-ageing drugs like Botox on the phone or internet if they have not seen their patients face to face, the BBC has learned.

It comes after the BBC went undercover to investigate the operations of one of the UK’s largest purchasers of the anti-wrinkle drug.

Botox is a potentially dangerous medicine and can normally only be prescribed by a doctor.

The General Medical Council (GMC) says new rules will be published later this week to stop doctors remotely prescribing injectable cosmetic medicines such as Botox.

“There are good reasons why these are prescription-only medicines and we believe doctors should assess any patient in person before issuing a prescription of this kind,” said Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC.

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