‘I’ll inject you right now!’: Channel 4 show exposes how easy it is to get hold of Ozempic with private clinics offering breakthrough weight loss jab without proper checks
- Semaglutide and liraglutide have been hailed as a ‘miracle’ weight-loss drugs
- But clamour to get hold of it has fuelled a national shortage of semaglutide
- Despite this Channel 4 found the jab in private clinics with no health checks
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The ease with which Brits can access ‘game-changer’ slimming jabs has been laid bare in an eye-opening documentary.
An array of private clinics in London offered to dish out diabetes drug Ozempic — which has been shown to help users lose up to 33lbs — without proper health checks, with one site offering to ‘inject you right now’ during an initial consultation.
The show, fronted by Naked Attraction host Anna Richardson, found that two out of three private providers would offer the weekly jab to patients regardless of their weight, while the third shared information on how to access the drug.
Cameras also capture online pharmacies failing to follow adequate safety protocols, allowing Brits to purchase jabs claiming to be Saxenda in under three minutes after filling in forms with false information.
The programme, which aired on Channel 4 last night, warned slimmers that they could be putting their health — and potentially their lives — at risk for the sake of losing a few pounds quickly.
Footage taken outside clinics in London revealed some clinicians were prescribing the drugs without proper health checks, with one offering to ‘inject you right now’ during an initial consultation. Fronted by Naked Attraction host Anna Richardson , she exposed the lack of safeguards in place to stop such behaviour
The documentary found private doctors and online pharmacies were routinely ignoring this instruction, offering the jabs freely to those with lower BMIs. Ms Richardson attended three separate appointments with private doctors after the Government’s alert about the shortages. The first lasted 45 minutes she said and failed to carry out BMI or health assessment checks. ‘I was told it was perfect for someone like me. No mention of the shortage at all,’ she told the documentary
Semaglutide and liraglutide — the powerful ingredient behind weight loss medications Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda — have ushered in a new era in the war on obesity.
Trials show that semaglutide can help users lose up to 33lbs or 15.3kg on average in 68 weeks or around 12 per cent of their body weight.
While Wegovy was approved on the NHS this month for obese patients or overweight Brits with a health condition, there is a global shortage of semaglutide, meaning fewer have been able to access the drug to help treat diabetes.
As a result, there has been a rise in off-label prescribing of Ozempic which contains a lower dose of the ingredient than Wegovy but has been available in the UK for diabetes patients since 2019.
This fuelled shortages of the medication and led the Government to order the NHS and private clinics to stop prescribing the jabs to new patients over shortage concerns.
HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR BODY MASS INDEX – AND WHAT IT MEANS
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on your weight in relation to your height.
Standard Formula:
- BMI = (weight in pounds / (height in inches x height in inches)) x 703
Metric Formula:
- BMI = (weight in kilograms / (height in meters x height in meters))
Measurements:
- Under 18.5: Underweight
- 18.5 – 24.9: Healthy
- 25 – 29.9: Overweight
- 30 – 39.9: Obese
- 40+: Morbidly obese
But the Channel 4 documentary found private doctors and online pharmacies were routinely ignoring this instruction, offering Ozempic off-label to patients for weight loss.
Ms Richardson attended three separate appointments with private doctors in London after the Government’s alert about the shortages.
The first lasted 45 minutes and failed to carry out BMI or health assessment checks, according to Ms Richardson.
She said: ‘I was told it was perfect for someone like me. No mention of the shortage at all.
‘He said “the pharmacy won’t give it to you” because I asked for a prescription. He said, “but it’s ok, I will order it for you now and it will be in, in about a week’s time”.’
He told her the package would be left in an unmarked envelope at reception so ‘nobody needs to know what it is’, she added.
A medic also offered Ozempic again during her second appointment, which lasted 30 minutes, without any BMI or health assessments.
‘They said “Ozempic is absolutely right for you”, took out the pens, showed me the needle and said “you can start now, why don’t you want to start now? I can inject you now”,’ Ms Richardson said.
‘At which point I freaked out. Absolutely, no way.’
The third clinic pointed to her BMI not being high enough to offer her the jab.
She did however ‘suggest where I might be able to get hold of it,’ Ms Richardson claimed.
Since Wegovy’s NHS launch earlier this month, tens of thousands have already joined waiting lists for pharmacies which are receiving stocks of the drug to sell through online doctor services.
But other weight loss drugs are already being sold by some online sellers.
These include liraglutide — the ingredient behind Saxenda — which has been shown to help users lose up to 31lbs or 14.1kg on average over 10 months.
Ms Richardson tested the safety protocols of one undisclosed online pharmacy.
Later in the programme, Ms Richardson also purchased medication through users of online forums who claimed to sell semaglutide, to check if what was being sold was genuine. One order arrived in pink packaging but contained only a vial of white powder, syringes and a bottle of liquid. No instruction were included and the needles were found to be noticeably larger than those in Ozempic pens
‘I guess I’m just mixing the water with whatever the hell that is [the powder] and then using a syringe to draw it up,’ Ms Richardson told the cameras. ‘I have no idea how much to draw up, I don’t know how to do that safely and then inject myself somewhere. This could cause serious harm.’ After the package was sent to laboratories at the University of Oxford , test results showed the black market samples were categorically not legitimate Ozempic samples
Semaglutide — the powerful ingredient behind Wegovy and Ozempic — has ushered in a new era in the war on obesity. The treatments spur weight loss by mimicking the actions of the hormone GLP-1, which is released in the gut after eating. As well as telling the pancreas to make more insulin, GLP-1 tells the brain that users feel full
After filling in a questionnaire with false information — including an exaggerated BMI of 34.9 — her application was approved within seconds, allowing her to select medication.
‘I find that really really concerning. Everything’s fake and within three minutes, I’ve got a weight loss pen, a Saxenda pen for £50,’ she told the documentary.
‘I could be anybody, I could be any age. This potentially is life altering medication, prescription medication.’
Later in the programme, Ms Richardson also purchased medication from one user of an online forum who claimed to sell semaglutide, to check if what was being sold was genuine.
Medication sold on the black market has been known to be cut with substances as dangerous as lead and the potent painkiller fentanyl.
Read more: Miracle weight loss jab that’s even better than Wegovy approved in UK for type 2 diabetes patients
Last month, the Mail revealed that fake Ozempic was being sold in dozens of countries, and in one case contained insulin. If too much insulin is injected into the body, blood sugar can drop to fatally low levels in seconds.
Pharmacists have warned people to not buy weight-loss jabs such as Ozempic online over concerns they could cause serious harm and ‘damage major organs’.
In the Channel 4 programme, one of Ms Richardson’s online orders arrived in pink packaging and contained only a vial of white powder, syringes and a bottle of liquid.
No instruction were included and the needles were found to be noticeably larger than those in Ozempic pens.
‘I guess I’m just mixing the water with whatever the hell that is [the powder] and then using a syringe to draw it up,’ Ms Richardson told the cameras.
‘I have no idea how much to draw up, I don’t know how to do that safely and then inject myself somewhere. This could cause serious harm.’
After the package was sent to laboratories at the University of Oxford, tests revealed it was not Ozempic.
Wegovy and Ozempic, which both contain semaglutide, work by triggering the body to produce a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals
Despite being hailed as one of the most powerful pharmaceutical tools to date, trials have also shown that users of Wegovy can rapidly pile pounds back on once they stop taking the fat-fighting drug and it can trigger a variety of nasty side effects. Users commonly complain of nausea, constipation and diarrhoea after taking the medication
Sellers on Facebook Marketplace are listing weight-loss jabs for sale without the need for a prescription. One seller shows an image of a fridge full of medication and lists the weight-loss jabs for £130, pictured left. Another seller lists semaglutide, a drug found in both Ozempic and Wegovy, pictured right
Pharmacist Reshma Patel told the documentary: ‘As a pharmacist, I have seen an increase in these jabs, especially over the last three months.
‘We’ve seen a dramatic increase in private prescriptions coming through.’
She added: ‘But I have never in my 27 years as a pharmacist experienced this sort of hysteria about a medication.’
Semaglutide, the key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, spurs weight loss by mimicking the actions of the hormone GLP-1, which is released in the gut after eating.
As well as telling the pancreas to make more insulin, GLP-1 tells the brain that users feel full.
However, it is not without side-effects. Users commonly complain of nausea, constipation and diarrhoea after taking the medication.
A lack of exercise, combined with unhealthy diets, has been blamed for the growing obesity epidemic in the UK.
Latest NHS data shows 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese.
A landmark study published in May revealed the UK’s bulging waistline is stripping billions of pounds from the cash-strapped NHS each year, with twice as much spent on obese patients as on those of a healthy weight.
Costs per patient rise drastically the more people weigh, as they ‘collect obesity-related conditions’ such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, according to research involving nearly 2.5million people.
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