After a local pharmacy reported a shipment of counterfeit Ozempic medication, pharmacists throughout the Cayman Islands are being warned to be on the lookout for fake versions of the popular weight-loss drug.
The Health Services Authority’s chief pharmacist, Colin Medford, wrote this week to pharmacists to warn them that he had received a confirmed report from a local pharmacy that a shipment of counterfeit Ozempic had reached the island.
“Based on the account, the product label is consistent with the authentic branding but the injector pen resembles those used for some insulins,” he said.
He noted that the international demand and shortages of semaglutide, the main ingredient in the injectable Ozempic and other drugs in this class, “is obviously creating an alternative market for counterfeit manufacture abroad”.
Medford is asking local pharmacists to “exercise the usual cautions when receiving these items from abroad and also inform your suppliers to apply greater scrutiny when obtaining supplies”.
He forwarded to the pharmacists a 16 June 2023 statement by Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk warning of counterfeit injection pens being found in the company’s branded packaging at a US retail pharmacy.
In that instance, the counterfeit product contained another type of diabetes medication, insulin glargine, that works differently than Ozempic, which reportedly led to an adverse reaction, the company said.
Prior to this, in May, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about counterfeit Ozempic.
It alerted patients to some products sold as ‘semaglutide’, which it said, “may not contain the same active ingredient as FDA-approved semaglutide products and may be the salt formulations. Products containing these salts, such as semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate, have not been shown to be safe and effective.”
With a worldwide shortage of Ozempic, and similar drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro, there has been a surge in the sale of fakes, especially online.
These drugs were developed as a treatment for diabetes, but having been promoted on social media and in Hollywood as a weight-loss medication, its popularity has exploded, leading to a global shortage.
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