The national medical director of NHS England, Professor Stephen Powis, expressed worry about people who are “otherwise healthy” but “just want to lose a few pounds” using drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Such medications may have “side effects” if purchased online, he noted.
“I’m worried about reports that people are misusing them – they are not intended as a quick fix for people trying to get ‘beach body ready’.”
According to Dr. Vicky Price, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, physicians are finding “increasing numbers” of patients with “complications” from such drugs they purchased online.
She continued: “We are seeing serious, life-threatening complications, including inflammation of the pancreas gland and alterations in blood salt levels in these patients who were not aware of the risk they were taking.”
Dr. Price continued, stating that there is a “need for urgent regulation and control of access for weight-loss drugs online” in light of concerns expressed to authorities.
According to an physician, a “young girl” who had taken Wegovy that she had purchased online had come in with potentially fatal symptoms.
The youngster arrived at the news “feeling unwell, like she was going to pass out and couldn’t stand up,” the medic added, speaking anonymously to the Chemist and Druggist news website. She was having a lot of trouble eating.
