August 5, 2024 – Researchers who purchased the burden loss drug semaglutide online and not using a prescription were defrauded or received potentially toxic liquids that didn't contain the stated amount of the drug.
Semaglutide is the energetic ingredient within the weight-loss drug Wegovy and likewise within the diabetes drug Ozempic, which is usually used outside of its approved indications for weight reduction. In clinical trials for Wegovy, the common weight reduction was between 6 and 12 percent, however the drugs are very expensive without insurance coverage, and the manufacturer of the brand-name drugs is struggling to maintain up with rising demand. Wegovy is currently on the country'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 (a 0.25-milligram Wegovy pen) is about $325, and the drug is meant to be taken weekly.
“Illegal online pharmacies that operate without valid licenses and sell drugs such as semaglutide without a prescription pose a risk to consumers for ineffective and dangerous products,” warn the authors of a study.
For their study, published this month by JAMA network openedThe researchers searched the Internet for web sites offering semaglutide and not using a prescription and located that 42% of their search results were illegally operating online pharmacies.
The researchers ordered two injection pens or ampoules of the product from six online pharmacies that were National Association of Pharmacists or a 3rd party testing body called LegitScript.
The team, consisting of medical researchers from Hungary and the University of California, San Diego, visually compared the obtained products with real Ozempic pens and conducted laboratory tests for sterility and microbial contamination and measured the quantity of semaglutide.
The products were purchased and tested between August 2023 and March 2024. The six sellers confirmed the sale either by email or through the messaging service WhatsApp, but three purchases were later found to be fraudulent. These three sellers never delivered the products and demanded further payments starting from $650 to $1,200, claiming the cash was needed for customs clearance. The researchers reported that customs authorities confirmed that these claims were fraudulent.
The results of the standard testing of the remaining three delivered products gave rise to quite a few concerns:
- One sample showed possible toxic contamination.
- All samples of the three products received contained semaglutide, but with a purity of seven% to 14% as an alternative of the advertised purity of 99%.
- The actual amount of semaglutide in each preparation was 29 to 39 percent higher than what was stated on the label, meaning people could have taken way more of the drug than they intended.
Since last 12 months frequently Warnings Warnings have been issued about counterfeit pens purporting to contain the injectable drugs, a few of which have been present in U.S. pharmacies. The warnings have circulated around the globe and have been issued by the FDA, the World Health Organization and the Danish company Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy and Ozempic. Authorities try to crack down on counterfeits by sending warning letters to online sellers and dealing with distribution groups.
On a webpage providing updates on supply issues, Novo Nordisk said the corporate had treated greater than 1 million U.S. patients between Wegovy's FDA approval in 2021 and April 2024, and that not less than 25,000 recent U.S. patients would start taking the drug 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 do everything we can to produce more Wegovy, including keeping our production lines running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The company added: “We encourage those who have trouble filling their prescriptions to talk to their doctor about the best course of treatment so that they do not let this deter them from their obesity treatment.”