FDA warns of dangerous Ozempic ‘cocktails’ making people sick
Health officials have issued a health alert about the rise of the black market Ozempic sold by online pharmacies.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received reports of side effects from people taking semaglutide — the active ingredients in Ozempic and Wegovy — made by compounding pharmacies.
These pharmacies are typically used to create custom medications for special needs patients, who may have severe allergies to some of the ingredients.
But some direct-to-consumer companies or the pharmacies themselves are now selling compound semaglutide to make up for the shortage of Wegovy and Ozempic, which has been going on for months as the drugs continue to make headlines for driving amazing weight loss transformations.
The drugs work by mimicking the action of a hormone to help someone feel full and reduce their calorie intake. But they are in short supply amid a flurry of public interest
Pictured above is 41-year-old Khalin Grant of Florida, who lost 75 pounds in seven months while receiving weekly injections of Wegovy. She says she fits into smaller dress sizes now than she did when she was in college
The drugs gained momentum amid a surge in demand for the injections that can help a person lose weight.
More than five million prescriptions of the drugs were written last year, in addition to Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which was a 21-fold increase from 230,000 in 2019.
To meet the rising demand, Novo Nordisk, which produces the drugs, has opened more and more production lines.
But amid the shortages, pharmacies are allowed to mix their own versions of the drug, in a process known as compounding.
In their warning, the FDA warned that these compound drugs should be avoided if the approved versions of the drug were available.
It said side effects had been reported in relation to the drugs, but did not specify what they were. However, semaglutide is known to cause a range of side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation.
The agency also said it had received reports from some pharmacies using saline versions of the drug — semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate.
It said this differs from the active ingredient used in the approved drugs, which contain only the base form of semaglutide.
The agency said: ‘Patients should be aware that some products marketed as “semaglutide” may not contain the same active ingredient as FDA-approved semaglutide products.
“Products containing these salts, such as semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate, have not been shown to be safe and effective.”
It added: “Buying drugs online from unregulated, unlicensed sources can expose patients to potentially unsafe products that have not undergone proper evaluation or approval, or that do not meet quality standards.”
Ozempic and Wegovy both use the same drug, semaglutide, which works by mimicking the action of a hormone that makes a person feel full.
This leads one to consume fewer calories and, as a result, leads to weight loss in patients.
Both drugs are approved for patients with type 2 diabetes, but only Wegovy is also approved to help with weight loss in obese patients.
However, many doctors prescribe the drugs off-label to weight loss patients, which is the cause of the shortage in the US.
FDA issues warning about Ozempic ‘cocktails’ being doled out by pharmacies