Today’s news / Warning of false Ozempic/Saxenda in Britain

Warning of false Ozempic/Saxenda in Britain

Britain warned Thursday about fake pens with the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight loss drug Saxenda, which Danish Novo Nordisk produces. This follows reports of “a very small number” of hospitalisations. The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the British regulator for medicines and healthcare products, issued the warning. The announcement comes days after several people were hospitalised in Austria for using suspected fake versions of the highly popular drug. “We advise the public not to use any pre-filled weight loss pens that they may have purchased online and instead report it to us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action,” the MHRA said in a statement. According to the MHRA, some of the hospitalised patients experienced seizures and exhibited symptoms of hypoglycaemia – a condition in which blood sugar is so low that it affects brain function. This indicates that the medicine probably contains insulin instead of Ozempic’s active substance semaglutide. /ritzau/MHRA/