The medicines regulator chief has told people to “stay safe this New Year” after warning against buying weight loss medication without a prescription from “beauty salons, websites and on social media”, it was announced this week (December 30). 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) deputy director of criminal enforcement Andy Morling said weight loss medications are “powerful medicines that can only be legally and safely dispensed against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional”. 

The MHRA press release stressed “not only does this expose people wanting to lose weight to serious health risks – it is also against the law to sell medicines in this way”. 

Read more: ‘It terrifies me’: Girl landed in A&E after buying Wegovy from Boots 

It added that the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit has been working “closely with social media platforms and technology companies” to stop the illegal sale of weight loss medication online without a prescription. 

The medicines regulator monitors the safety of licensed weight loss medication, known clinically as GLP-1 receptor agonists (Ras), and says the “only way to guarantee you receive a genuine weight loss medicine” is from a legitimate pharmacy including those who trade online. 

Fight against organised crime 

Regarding online sales of weight loss medication, Morling said “criminals go to great lengths to make their website storefronts look authentic and convincing, so before you buy any medicine online you should exercise caution”. 

“Fake pharmacy websites and social media sellers illegally supply medicines that are not approved for use in the UK. These may contain toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm, and you may even end up in hospital.  

Read more: Mum landed in hospital after taking Facebook ad Mounjaro 

“We work with our partners, including the police and Border Force, to tackle those selling medicines illegally and causing harm. As the tactics of these organised criminal gangs evolve, so do our methods to identify, disrupt and dismantle them,” he said. 

While the MHRA says weight loss medication’s “current evidence shows the benefits outweigh the risks” its chief safety officer Dr Alison Cave encouraged the reporting of “suspected side effects from GLP-1 RAs, such as semaglutide or tirzepatide, through our Yellow Card scheme” from both patients and healthcare professionals. 

Read more: Wegovy: Ten deaths linked to weight loss injections, says MHRA 

C+D have reported extensively on weight loss medication, as last month PharmaDoctor’s chief executive Graham Thoms exclusively chatted about his “overwhelmingly positive experience” with Mounjaro, but stressed it’s neither a “magic bullet” nor a “short-term fix” and that uniform regulation must be implemented. 

In December, an ex-social-media-influencer Georgie Aldous, who was able to take weight loss jab Mounjaro despite suffering with an eating disorder, has warned followers that the drug is “not worth the risk”. 

And an online pharmacy has come under fire for “treating injectable medications like grocery items at a Lidl checkout” as pharmacists took to social media to share their concerns over targets for independent prescribers (IPs) to complete 28 prescriptions within an hour.