Health experts seeing fat-dissolving injections that aren't FDA-approved sold online, social media

KENMORE, Wash. - Social media is the easiest place for people to learn about the latest trends. However, health experts said one thing that is gaining attention and concern is purchasing medication on social media. 

Washington State Department of Health is raising awareness about the latest alert from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The FDA reports fat-dissolving injections that are not FDA-approved are being marketed and sold online under various brand names. 

"There’s no doctor involved, no prescription, and they’re getting products that may or may not even have the drug that they’re claiming to have," said Matt Binder, pharmacist and owner of Ostroms Drug & Gift in Kenmore.

Ozempic is an FDA-approved medication prescribed by licensed healthcare providers, often to help treat consumers diagnosed with diabetes. Health experts said a common side effect of Ozempic is weight loss.

The FDA said investigators have seized thousands of units of counterfeit Ozempic injections marketed online. 

"There’s a lot of profit potential for some people, some bad actors, and they can sell people the product, but it’s not really that product," said Binder. "Just about any medication can have people search for it elsewhere. Any brand name medication that could potentially be hundreds of dollars, there will be some people trying to sell that and there will be people hoping to save some money and purchase that."

The DOH said, "it’s never a good idea to purchase medications online unless you know it’s an FDA-approved medication from a regulated pharmacy."

The FDA said the counterfeit medications are causing serious symptoms, that are not "consistent with known common adverse reactions to authentic Ozempic, which are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation."

"Some signs of infection could be swelling of the area, discoloration, painful to the touch. These sorts of things I would suggest going to an urgent care, health care provider to have it looked at. And then necessary steps can be taken to make sure it isn’t something worse or more dangerous," said Binder.

In a study conducted by researchers in 2022, the National Library of Medicine reported a woman "developed painful nodules at each injection site" one week after receiving lipodissolve injections.

DOH said the state has not received any official reports of illness connected to medications bought on social media. The FDA said its working with Novo Nordisk "to identify, investigate, and remove further suspected counterfeit semaglutide injectable products found in the U.S.

Binder said if cost is the concern for purchasing medication, finding a solution on social media may not be worth your health.

"If you talk to your pharmacy or insurance, it might be able to help you out. There are manufacturer coupons," said the pharmacist. "We want to make sure that if you’re getting a product, it’s a safe one and it’s going to do what it’s supposed to do and not something that’s going to potentially hurt you."