An online medicinal cannabis company has quietly removed false claims from its website after it was found to have told patients its entire product range was approved by Australia's medicines regulator — a status that, in reality, applies to fewer than one in a hundred cannabis products available in the country.
Medicinal Organic Cannabis Australia (MOCA), which lists a Sydney address, had published statements on its website asserting that its "complete product range is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and is ready for practitioners to prescribe to patients in Australia." The site further described an "approved medical cannabis product range" that included capsules, sublingual oils, isolates, vape pens and whole cannabis flowers.
What 'TGA-Approved' Actually Means for Medicinal Cannabis
The distinction matters enormously. The TGA's Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) lists only two cannabis medicines as formally approved products: Epidyolex, an oral solution prescribed for specific forms of epilepsy, and Sativex, a mouth spray used to treat multiple sclerosis-related spasticity. Together, these two products represent less than one per cent of all medicinal cannabis products available in Australia.
The remaining products — including those sold by MOCA — are classified as unapproved therapeutic goods, meaning they have not been assessed by the TGA for safety, quality or effectiveness. This does not make them illegal: doctors can lawfully prescribe such products through specific regulatory pathways, including the Special Access Scheme. However, describing them as "TGA-approved" is a significant misrepresentation of their regulatory standing.
MOCA acknowledged in a statement that its wording "did not accurately reflect the regulatory status" of its products and confirmed it had removed the claims. The company said it was also reviewing its broader website to ensure all information about its products and their regulatory status was "accurate and consistent with current requirements."
Company Won't Commit to Notifying Patients
Despite removing the misleading language, MOCA has stopped short of committing to inform existing clients about the correction. When asked directly whether it would communicate the changes to patients, the company said it "will consider whether any further communication is appropriate" as part of the review process — a response that stops well short of a firm commitment to transparency.
The case is part of broader concerns about how medicinal cannabis products are described and marketed to patients across the industry. Investigations into the online medicinal cannabis sector have found multiple examples of clinics and online retailers using language that could lead prospective patients to believe their products carry formal government approval. For more detail on MOCA's admissions and the company's response, see our earlier coverage of the medicinal cannabis prescriber that admitted false TGA approval claims.
Regulator Flags Legal Risk But Stops Short of Ruling
The TGA, when asked whether MOCA's original claims constituted unlawful advertising, said it was unable to make that determination without a full case-by-case assessment. However, the regulator was clear that the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 prohibits advertisements that imply a therapeutic good has been approved or recommended by the government or a government authority.
"Businesses are responsible for understanding and complying with their regulatory obligations when advertising and supplying therapeutic goods, including advertising through online platforms," a TGA spokesperson said.
Industry-Wide Concerns Prompt Push for Reform
The MOCA case sits against a backdrop of growing unease about standards across the medicinal cannabis industry. Earlier this year, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) wrote formally to the TGA calling for reforms to the way medicinal cannabis is prescribed and regulated in Australia — a signal that concerns about patient information and regulatory compliance extend well beyond a single company's website wording.
Experts have noted the issue reflects a systemic gap between the rapid commercial growth of the medicinal cannabis sector and the regulatory guardrails designed to protect patients from misleading health claims.
