FAKE Ozempic-style pills are being sold online for rock-bottom prices as crooks try to cash in on the slimming jab craze.
Dieters have been warned not to fall for dangerous scams as it is impossible to know what is in the drugs.
Pharmacists say people are buying ‘G1P-1 powder’ from TikTok[/caption]
Punters are on social media trying to source the drug, which is still in clinical trials[/caption]
Wolverine Peptides is one of the companies claiming to sell orforglipron[/caption]
The revelation comes just a week after dodgy websites and social media accounts were seen pretending to sell upcoming fat jab retatrutide, dubbed the ‘Godzilla’ of fat jabs and ‘Triple G’, before it has even finished clinical trials.
Now they claim to have stocks of orforglipron, a daily weight loss pill tipped to be the next blockbuster when it hits the market.
One site was seen selling the drug for as little as £79 ($96) for a month’s supply – making each pill around £2.60 ($3.20).
That’s around a quarter of the price of the popular weight loss medicine Mounjaro, which can cost up to £330 a month privately.
Another, called Wolverine Peptides, lists Orforglipron at £163 ($199) for 30 tablets, which works out to about £5 ($6) a day.
Punters on social media claim to have found even cheaper deals – with some paying as little as £29 a month, more than 11 times cheaper than the fat jabs.
Orforglipron is being developed by Eli Lilly, the US company behind Mounjaro, and works in the same way as other GLP-1 medicines, tricking the body into feeling fuller for longer.
Trials suggest users could shed more than 10 per cent of their body weight in a year.
Lilly has not revealed the price but the pill is expected to be cheaper than jabs, as well as easier to store and take.
However, it is still in the testing phase and legal supplies are not expected until at least next year.
It means any tablets advertised online are almost certainly dangerous fakes.
Many sites that ship to the UK label the products as “for research only” or “not for human use” to try and dodge penalties for illegally selling prescription medicines.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said: “We’re seeing sachets and tablets sold for as little as £30 on TikTok.
”They don’t list proper ingredients, directions or markings – goodness knows what’s inside them.
“Some people might just be wasting their money, but others could be putting something incredibly harmful in their body that causes long-term liver or kidney damage.”
Dr Hannbeck fears younger people who can’t afford to go down legitimate routes are at greatest risk of being duped into buying from crooks “taking advantage” of the hype around weight loss jabs.
Possessing or buying an unlicensed medicines is illegal[/caption]
It comes just weeks after scammers were caught pushing fake supplies of experimental drug, retatrutide.
That injection is also only legally available to people taking part in clinical trials.
Seizures of illegal fat jab supplies are rising and expected to surge after Mounjaro prices increased in September.
‘Pose a serious risk’
Andy Morling, from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, told The Sun: “Buying any medicine from illegal online suppliers significantly increases the risk of receiving falsified or unlicensed products.
“We work closely with law enforcement and online platforms to remove illegal medicines from sale, block harmful websites and prosecute those who put people at risk.”
Danielle Brightman, clinical director at health provider Numan, said: “Not only are people putting their health at risk, they could also face very real legal consequences.”
Under UK law, possessing or buying an unlicensed medicine such as orforglipron is illegal.
A spokesperson from Eli Lilly said: “Orforglipron has not been reviewed or approved by any regulatory agency anywhere in the world, and therefore at this time no one can legally sell orforglipron for human use.
“Use of unapproved, investigational products may expose patients to potentially serious health risks.
They added: “People who purchase counterfeit or black market medicines (those sold from unregulated sources), including “research use only” chemicals, have no way of knowing what they actually contain.
“They aren’t tested, have no regulatory oversight for safety, quality, or efficacy, and can pose a serious risk to patients.
“They may contain no active ingredient at all, or contain other harmful ingredients.
“No one should ever risk putting them into their bodies.”
Wolverine Peptides has been approached for comment.
Are you eligible for weight loss jabs on the NHS?
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
THEY are arguably the biggest medical breakthrough of recent times.
And now, so-called ‘fat jabs’ are available to many more Brits on the NHS.
In what marks the dawn of a new era, GPs have begun prescribing the weight loss jab Mounjaro in the first anti-obesity rollout of its kind.
More than three million people are thought to be eligible for tirzepatide – the active drug in Mounjaro – the strongest jab on the market.
Health chiefs hope it will turn the tide on England’s obesity crisis which has seen rates double since the 1990s.
Injections including Ozempic and Wegovy have previously only been available for type 2 diabetes or through specialist slimming clinics.
Family doctors will now be encouraged to prescribe them in a bid to get more people on the meds.
Experts hope widespread use will slash work sick days and boost the economy, while reducing rates of cancer, heart disease and dementia.
But demand for the drugs is already huge and NHS clinics cannot dish them out fast enough.
Who is eligible in the new rollout?
The new rollout allows GPs to prescribe tirzepatide for weight loss, starting with those patients whose weight places them at greatest health risk.
Top of the list will be those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher (or 37.5 if from a minority ethnic background) and four weight-related health conditions.
A BMI of 40 is roughly equal to weighing 16st (102kg) for an average height 5’3” woman, or 19st 6lbs (123kg) for an average 5’9” man.
Weight-related conditions include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea and heart disease.
Patients will likely be expected to have tried diet and exercise first before being offered a jab.
Many are likely to miss out, as some 13.5million adults in England are obese but only 3.4million are estimated to be eligible in the rollout.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Currently only patients who meet certain criteria – those who could benefit most – are eligible to be prescribed weight loss drugs on the NHS, and GPs will also need to follow local guidelines when prescribing.
“If your practice advises you that they won’t be able to provide weight loss medication, these will likely be the reasons why.
“We appreciate the idea of weight loss medication is an attractive prospect to many patients – and they do have a lot of potential benefits for patients and may be a valuable tool as we try to tackle obesity at a national level – but it’s important these medications aren’t seen as a silver bullet.
“Weight loss drugs do not come without risk, they can cause side effects which range in seriousness, and they won’t be suitable for everyone.
“It’s important we don’t lose sight of the role lifestyle factors play in achieving a healthy weight.
“The roll out of weight loss medications as a treatment for obesity must not come at the expense of other weight loss services.”
If you are eligible but your GP denies you a prescription, you may be able to ask for a referral to specialist weight management services.
Known as tier 2 and tier 3 weight management services, they may prescribe the jabs after other weight loss attempts.
Many people are expected to find it easier to go private, with the injections widely available from high street pharmacies like Boots, Superdrug, and even Asda.
There are also numerous online pharmacies offering the drugs.
Buying the drugs online might seem like the faster fix – but buyer beware.
Slimming success stories are everywhere but so, too, are tales of horror.
Many patients have been duped by dodgy sellers, suffered severe side effects or even died after taking jabs they bought online.
Bargain prices, easy tick-box applications, or prescriptions with no follow-up, should all be red flags to online shoppers.
