A Well pharmacist was last week (August 29) sentenced at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for stealing 40 boxes of weight loss drug Mounjaro and 60 boxes of the opioid dihydrocodeine from his employer.
Kurt Day, 38 of Guildford Walk in Sheffield, was caught taking the items on Well Pharmacy CCTV last August and later pleaded guilty to theft, the court confirmed to C+D.
Read more: ‘Illegal or unregulated’: 18k weight loss items seized in 18 months
The court heard that the value of the stock taken came to £4,285 and Day was ordered to repay this sum in full as part of his sentence.
He was also given a 32-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, a three-month curfew between 8pm and 7am, as well as 25 rehabilitation activity days, it confirmed.
Illegal Retatrutide
It comes as City of London police last week (August 29) appealed to the public for help in tracing Christina Parfitt, 40, who is wanted “in connection with the illegal selling of counterfeit weight loss medicines including Mounjaro and Ozempic”.
An investigation was launched following a referral claiming that a woman “had been advertising the sale of counterfeit goods including weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Ozempic online and at significantly reduced prices”, the police said.
Read more: ‘DIY kits’: NI fake weight loss jab warning as patients hospitalised
It discovered that an “organised crime group” was involved in the sale and distribution of the drugs without a prescription or licence, it added.
This included allegedly selling Retatrutide – which is “currently in phase three clinical trials for weight management and is yet to be approved by any regulatory authority globally”, the force said.
According to the police, the products were “allegedly shipped via a Lancashire-based fulfilment company” and then “sold to members of the public without any health and safety consultation”.
Read more: Ozempic and opioids: Lloydspharmacy worker sentenced for £1.3k POM theft
Officers carried out a warrant at the premises last week and seized “roughly £32,000-worth of what is believed to be counterfeit Mounjaro, Ozempic and Retatrutide”, they said.
They added that inspection of the items “raised concerns that the products contained much more than the recommended dose”.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Jason Theobald said that “anyone with information or who may have purchased counterfeit medicine is encouraged to contact the City of London Police immediately”.
Read more: Pharmacist empties Tesco of Ozempic for own private weight loss patients
“Members of the public must be aware of the very real dangers of purchasing counterfeit or unlicensed medicines online,” he stressed.
It comes after data from the Home Office’s border force last month revealed that it had intercepted more than 18,000 “illegal or unregulated” weight loss products since January 2024.
And in the same month, the Department of Health (DH) in Northern Ireland issued a warning to the public not to “fall victim to criminals” selling fake weight loss medication following reports of patients being hospitalised.
