UK Warns of Faux Ozempic Pens After Hospitalizations

Britain on Thursday cautioned the general public about shopping for faux weight-loss pens claiming to include Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic or weight-loss drug Saxenda after reviews of a “very small quantity” of hospitalizations.

The warning from the nation’s medicines regulator comes days after a number of folks had been hospitalized in Austria after utilizing suspected faux variations of Ozempic amid a Europe-wide hunt for imitations of the massively standard drug.

“We’re advising all members of the general public to not use any pre-filled weight-loss pens they could have purchased on-line and as an alternative to report it to us in order that we are able to examine and take any vital motion,” UK’s Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Company (MHRA) said in a statement.

Critical side-effects reported in these hospitalized, together with hypoglycaemic shock and coma, point out that the faux pens could include insulin quite than semaglutide, the company mentioned.

The Danish maker of the drug, Novo Nordisk, earlier this month flagged a surge in on-line presents of counterfeit Ozempic in addition to its weight-loss drug Wegovy, each based mostly on semaglutide, because it scrambles to meet up with overwhelming demand.

British Well being Minister Will Quince mentioned in an announcement, “The MHRA have our full help in cracking down on these unlawful on-line suppliers to make sure that sufferers are protected.”

MHRA mentioned it has seized 369 probably faux Ozempic pens since January this 12 months and has additionally obtained reviews of pretend Saxenda pens which have been “obtained by members of the general public within the UK by way of non-legitimate routes.”

Final week, the European Medicines Company had additionally warned concerning the faux weight-loss pens within the European Union and UK with labels in German.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; modifying by Shailesh Kuber and Shilpi Majumdar)