Ozempic and Wijovi injections are designed to help type 2 diabetes and people with obesity control their blood sugar levels and lose weight. But these injections are expensive for many people, which may prompt them to try to buy them online in the hope of obtaining them at lower prices.
The British Daily Mail newspaper quoted British health officials as warning patients who want to lose weight against purchasing weight loss injections through social networking sites or the Internet due to the terrifying health risks of counterfeit injections that have infiltrated the online market.
Taking fake injections can have troubling side effects such as pancreatitis or gastrointestinal problems. Figures show that UK health officials have already seized more than 600 fake injection pens across the country since the start of 2023.
Experts said that many of the fake injections do not even contain semaglutide (the active ingredient in types of weight loss injections that suppress hunger) and are often just insulin pens, which deceives customers.
When patients inject themselves with the fake insulin-containing drug, their blood sugar drops rapidly, which can be fatal.
Doctors have previously reported that a number of patients suffered bouts of hypoglycemia and were left in a life-threatening coma as a result of the use of fake injections. UK law prohibits the sale of such medicines without a prescription from a medical professional. It is also illegal in a number of countries to promote any medicine.
Reports of fake slimming injections appeared in the United Kingdom for the first time in August 2023. The British Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority also previously warned that a number of Britons were hospitalized due to life-threatening side effects after injecting themselves with fake injections sold online.
According to NHS guidelines in the UK, Wijovi should only be prescribed to patients with a BMI over 35, or a BMI of 30 and at least one weight-related health problem such as high blood pressure.