Aug. 5, 2024 – Researchers who bought the weight loss drug semaglutide online without a prescription were scammed or sent potentially toxic liquids that did not contain the labeled amount of the drug.
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the weight loss drug Wegovy, and also in the diabetes drug Ozempic that is often used off-label for weight loss. In clinical trials for Wegovy, weight loss averaged between 6% and 12%, but the medicines are very expensive without insurance coverage, and the maker of the brand-name drugs has struggled to keep pace with rising demand. Wegovy is currently listed on the nation’s official drug shortage list.
The researchers paid between $113 and $360 for a single dose of the products they ordered online. The retail price for a comparable dose (one 0.25-milligram pen of Wegovy) is about $325, and the drug is meant to be taken weekly.
“Illegal online pharmacies, which operate without valid licenses and sell medicines like semaglutide without prescription, represent a consumer risk for ineffective and dangerous products,” the authors warned in a study.
For their study, published this month by JAMA Network Open, the researchers searched the internet for websites advertising semaglutide without a prescription and found that 42% of their search results were for online pharmacies operating illegally.
The researchers ordered two injection pens or vials of the product from six online pharmacies deemed “not recommended” or “rogue” by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy or a third-party verifying body called LegitScript.
The team, made up of medical researchers from Hungary and the University of California, San Diego, compared the products received to actual Ozempic pens visually, and they did lab tests for sterility, germ contamination, and to measure the amount of semaglutide.
The products were purchased and tested between August 2023 and March 2024. The six vendors confirmed the sale either via email or the messaging service WhatsApp, but three purchases were later found to be scams. Those three sellers never delivered the products and asked for more payments ranging from $650 to $1,200, claiming the money was needed to clear customs. The researchers reported that customs agencies confirmed these claims were fraudulent.
The results of the quality testing of the remaining three products that were delivered raised many concerns:
- One sample showed potential toxic contamination.
- All samples from the three received products contained semaglutide, but at 7% to 14% purity levels, rather than the advertised 99% purity level.
- The actual amount of semaglutide in each was 29% to 39% higher than labeled, meaning people could be taking much more of the drug than they intended to take.
Starting last year, regular warnings have been issued about fake pens purported to contain the injectable medicines, some of which were found in U.S. drugstores. The warnings have spanned the globe, issued by the FDA, , the World Health Organization, and the Danish company, Novo Nordisk, that makes Wegovy and Ozempic. Authorities are trying to crack down on fakes by sending warning letters to online sellers and partnering with the distribution groups.
On a webpage devoted to supply issue updates, Novo Nordisk said it has served more than 1 million U.S. patients in the time spanning FDA approval of Wegovy in 2021 to April 2024, and at least 25,000 new U.S. patients are starting the medicine each week.
“While we will do our best to support those who want to start taking Wegovy, it is important to recognize that overall demand will continue to exceed supply and some patients may still have difficulty filling Wegovy prescriptions,” Novo Nordisk wrote on its website. “We will continue to closely monitor market dynamics and prescribing trends, and are doing everything we can to manufacture more Wegovy, including running our manufacturing lines 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The company added: “We recommend that those who experience challenges filling their prescriptions speak with their healthcare professional about the best approach to their treatment, so this does not halt their pursuit of obesity care.”
