Not a week goes by without weight loss jabs hitting the headlines, whether it’s the government looking at how to commission it as an NHS service or how fake jabs are impacting the sector.
But are they a good thing? Can weight loss jabs be effectively regulated? And are they safe to prescribe?
Some respondents from C+D’s Counter View 25 survey are positive that community pharmacy can become the home of weight loss jabs.
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The sector is in a “good position” to help patients manage weight loss, and it’s something “that can scale” through home deliveries - and people being able to jab themselves.
But one respondent left a damning verdict of the sector’s role and called for “better regulation and monitoring”.
“The last few years have been a speedy course on effective regulation,” they said. “It’s just a cash cow where community pharmacy has caused patient harm.”
Safety
Regulation is a common concern, and one respondent thinks it needs to go further after noticing some patients did not look overweight, suggesting they were using weight loss jabs “for aesthetic reasons”.
“We were alerted months ago that some prescriptions would now require staff to weigh the customer and calculate BMI before issuing the item. I’ve not had any prescriptions annotated to ask me to do this.
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“So, I suspect the alert was more to placate the regulators than it was to ensure safe prescribing.”
Another said regulation was not being enforced and large fines should be handed out for those engaging in “inappropriate prescribing”.
“We shouldn’t be allowed to do online consultations where physical inspections are required, like with checking weight,” they added.
Location
Being able to verify the weight of patients in-person was a priority for many respondents to prevent patients receiving weight loss jabs when they don’t need them.
“Weights can be faked,” said one respondent, adding “how can you teach someone to safely inject themselves without showing them?”
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One said new patient consultations should take place face-to-face, and should also take place six, 12, and 24 months into a weight loss journey as a minimum.
“This single change would dramatically reduce the risk to patients, and you would see a huge drop in pharmacies making the headlines because of weight loss,” they said.
Basic
Another respondent who runs an online pharmacy said they refuse to supply weight loss jabs.
“We believe they require basic blood tests, such as a finger-prick triglycerides test to prevent incidents like pancreatitis,” they explained. “This would also resolve issues for weight verification.”
But one respondent emphasised the need for a holistic service that goes beyond thinking weight loss jabs will solve an overweight patient’s problems.
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“From a clinical perspective, there is a narrow range where jabs are beneficial,” they said.
“If patients are on a diabetic pathway, and this can be reversed, jabs should be offered and even encouraged.
“For everyone else, the reality is that we should be more prepared to have difficult conversations with patients around diet, exercise and lifestyle.”
