Medics claim a ‘young girl’ needed A&E care after taking the weight-loss jab Wegovy under false pretences from Boots, in what they warned was a growing trend.
The doctor, who spoke anonymously, said their patient had obtained the drug, which contains semaglutide, the same ingredient as Ozempic, from a Boots Online Doctor.
She attended A&E feeling ‘feeling unwell, like she was going to pass out and couldn’t stand up… she was really struggling to eat’ according to the medic who spoke to the pharmacy website Chemist and Druggist.
The patient was reportedly not overweight ‘at all’ but had apparently managed to secure a months worth supply for about £150 — and the medic claimed to ‘absolutely staggered’ by the case.
The girl, whose age was not disclosed, was treated for ‘starvation ketoacidosis’ a potentially life threatening problem caused by extended fasting and where harmful substances called ketones build-up in the body.
The Boots website for Wegovy prescriptions says patients can get a clinical review on their case within ‘as little as 24 hours’
Ozempic and Wegovy work by mimicking a hormone that tells the body its full suppressing appetite and it is suggested this triggered the girl’s health problems
Ozempic and Wegovy work by mimicking a hormone that tells the body its full suppressing appetite and it is suggested this triggered the girl’s health problems.
The medic who reported the girl’s case claimed this is just the latest in a growing pattern of similar incidents where patients who shouldn’t have had the drug have needed emergency medical care.
They said in the last month or two, during every shift they had a patient who was suffering a complication from weight loss drugs.
They added that in many cases the patient had managed to get the drugs from an online pharmacy or private beauty clinic.
‘Without fail, none of them would fit the criteria at all,’ they claimed.
Another alarming case involved a patient who had suffered acute pancreatitis after obtaining the weight loss jabs, and ‘ended up going to intensive care’.
Under NHS guidelines only patients who have a body mass index (BMI) of over 35, or a BMI of 30 and at least one weight related health problem like high blood pressure, should be prescribed Wegovy.
While private prescribers aren’t bound by this, they still need to follow general professional guidelines and consider national guidance to ensure only patients that need the drug get access to it.
However, the medic who reported the girls case said this isn’t happening and if the pattern continued a patient death was almost inevitable.
While in theory patients need to provide photos and can have their GP informed of their prescription when getting it from an online prescriber the medic said these supposed safeguards are being circumvented.
The medic reported that patients are doctoring photos and time-poor GPs don’t have time to raise the alarm if a patient, who they may not have seen, obtains a Wegovy prescription.
‘Boots asks for a photo of you, but obviously I could put any photo of an overweight person on,’ they told the website.
‘And then they also asked for your GP’ as a ‘safety mechanism’ – but ‘GPs are currently under a huge amount of strain [so] I can’t imagine that they’re going through all these,’ they claimed.
A Boots spokesman, responding to the claims, said they were concerned to hear about the case and would like to ‘investigate fully’ and have encouraged the medic or patient in this case to get in touch.
They also insisted that ‘patient safety is our number one priority’ and that it has a ‘number of safeguards in place’ for its online weight loss services.
This includes ‘answering questions on their medical and psychological history and supplying a photograph’ as well as Boots ‘informs each patient’s GP of the prescription as an additional safety measure and may contact the patient’s GP if required’.
Ministers have pinned hopes of using weight-loss jabs like Wegovy to tackle Britain’s bulging obesity crisis and get more Brits back into work.
However, critics say we are at risk of over-medicalising obesity instead of addressing the poor diet and lack of exercise that triggers the condition in the first place.
There have also been concerns about potential side effects from the drugs and the fact patients prescribed it will have to take the jabs for life to keep the weight off.
Source: Mail Online
