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'Fake Ozempic' warning to Brits seeking to shed Christmas pounds, as criminals peddle dangerous counterfeit drugs
20 December 2024, 09:20
A stark warning has been issued to Brits attempting to get their hands on weight loss drugs to counteract the extra pounds piled on over the Christmas period.
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Officials have warned of the 'tremendous' dangers of black market weight loss drugs.
Andy Morling, deputy head of enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is responsible for overseeing the sale of drugs in the UK, said people have suffered “tremendous harm” as a result of taking counterfeit goods bought on the black market - and confessed the problem “keeps [him] awake a night.”
It comes after the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) suggested there could be an "explosion in the unlicensed sale of medication online" because of a shortage of the Diabetes medication Ozempic.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Morling said: “These are things that have probably been put together in their bedrooms by mixing various powders that they’ve purchased on the internet themselves, they’ve put it into syringes which are in no way sterile.
“My advice is you cannot buy weight loss medicines on social media, on websites or in a beauty salon without a prescription.”
Semaglutide has been described as a “game-changer” in fat loss medicine, altering the way the brain regulates hunger, and has been subject to huge demand globally.
Earlier this year, twenty-four-year-old healthcare assistant Paige Roberts paid £80 for four pre-filled syringes she found after searching for weight-loss jabs on social media.
Just twelve hours after injecting the product, she was admitted to A&E experiencing dehydration, nausea and flu-like symptoms.
“I knew something was really wrong the morning after I’d taken it,” Paige told LBC. “I felt really ill, like I had the flu, really dehydrated and dizzy.”
Paige decided to buy the jabs after being advised to lose weight to help ease symptoms related to polycystic ovary syndrome.
“You just don’t think, you just want to lose the weight - so you just take them,” Paige added, explaining that the popularisation of the semaglutide for weight loss by celebrities and politicians had been a key reason for her decision.
Paige’s case is by no means an isolated incident.
Caller explains to James O'Brien why 'the negatives outweigh the positives' with weight loss jabs
Industry insiders have expressed concern to LBC that social media advertisements for weight loss jabs are on the rise, with shortages in the supply of Semaglutide, a key component for these goods, encouraging people to search for these goods in non-pharmaceutical settings.
The pace at which criminals have attempted to capitalise on this trend has alarmed the MHRA, Mr Morling conceded.
“What has surprised me a little bit with the weight loss medicine is the speed that the criminal fraternity saw the gap in the market,” he said. “They saw the demand for these products was outstripping supply and, as they do, they filled that gap with all kinds of counterfeit products and unlicensed products to make money off the back of vulnerable people.”
Testing carried out by the MHRA on counterfeit jabs has revealed that criminals are repackaging insulin jabs, which can put people at risk of the potentially fatal hypoglycemia.
However, the regulator noted that most of the jabs they have seen contain the base ingredients used in Semaglutide - but in much higher concentrations than the genuine product. As a result, this means that even people who have researched and taken advice from medical professionals online are unlikely to be administered the correct dosage.
Another factor driving demand for listings on social media sites is the strict eligibility criteria for those looking to get their hands on these drugs.
Tom Swarbrick debates the use of weight loss jabs
LBC spoke to Anna, a beautician from Swansea, who turned to the blackmarket after being told she was ineligible to purchase the Ozempic through an online pharmacy.
“I was really dubious about taking them - even though, honestly, more than 50 percent of my clients walking through the door are on them - but I just wanted to feel better in myself and in my clothes,” she said.
“Everyone is just looking for that quick fix because almost no one is happy with their weight… people are seeing how well it’s working for the next person and the next person and they just think ‘I want that’.”
Alongside the MHRA, Novo Nordisk, which is the only company manufacturing Semaglutide, a key component in Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy, warned LBC that attempting to purchase their products non-pharmaceutical outlets “poses a direct danger to health.”
A spokesperson said: “Buying prescription-only medicines without a prescription through non-legitimate routes poses a direct danger to health.
“The contents of medicines purchased online without a prescription can be entirely different from the genuine medicine and should not be used.”
The company asked those who suspect they are in possession of a falsified Novo Nordisk product to not use it and instead report it to the MHRA via the Yellow Card scheme.
