Almost half (44%) of Brits using weight loss jabs are trying “risky dosing hacks” or “turning to unlicensed drugs and sellers” amid the rising cost of the treatment, new research has today revealed.
LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor said a third of people using glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) jabs in the UK have admitted to “experimenting with hacks” like microdosing - taking a far smaller dose than prescribed - or squeezing an extra “golden dose” of residual medication from their injection pens.
Read more: Patients ‘forced’ to get weight loss jabs privately, watchdog warns
It added that 78% of those dabbling with “risky” dosing practices said they are doing so “to cut costs”.
And it said almost all GLP-1 users experimenting with dosing or changing their purchasing behaviour due to financial pressures “say price increases are a leading reason”.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly sparked shortages of its weight loss jab Mounjaro back in August when it announced that the UK list price for the drug would rise by up to 170% from September.
Price pressures
LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor’s chief medical officer Dr Kieran Seyan said “price pressures have collided with seasonal cost of living challenges” and that the “growing perception on social media of GLP-1 medications as lifestyle drugs” has tempted some patients to “experiment with alternative ways of buying and taking them”.
He added that weight loss medicines “have transformed the treatment of obesity”, but “are still relatively new” and “the evidence base relates to specific doses and treatment pathways”.
“Experimenting with dosing ‘hacks’ to make prescriptions last longer is a risky strategy and can expose patients to safety risks and unknown side effects,” he said.
“Extremely concerning”
LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor also said cost of living pressures are “driving people to either buy from unregulated sources” or “begin taking alternative drugs not currently tested or prescribed for weight loss”.
One in four current and previous GLP-1 users have “knowingly resorted to buying from unlicensed sellers”, it added, while one in five are “using drugs that are unlicensed and untested for weight loss in the UK”.
Read more: High street health retailers in weight loss investigation
Dr Seyan said there are “extremely concerning behaviours emerging around the use of unlicensed medicines”.
“Reports of people buying weight loss medication through social media sellers, beauty salons or the dark web highlight serious safety risks, and are rife, and it’s important that people understand that doing so significantly increases the likelihood of harm,” he stressed.
Read more: Private weight loss dispensing nearly quadruples
It comes after a health watchdog warned that patients are being “forced” to go private for weight loss jabs due to difficulties accessing them on the NHS.
Healthwatch said people in England are facing a “postcode lottery” when it comes to getting NHS-funded weight loss drugs, and some are “making big financial sacrifices” to afford their private prescriptions.
