One increasingly popular form of weight loss medication is the ‘skinny jab’, a term that’s now widely used to refer to injections containing active ingredients like semaglutide (found in Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (found in Mounjaro).
This medication is particularly effective and reliable as a way to lose weight, but it seems that there are currently significant flaws in the way in which it’s being sold at some high street pharmacies, while registered nurses also appear to be prescribing it unnecessarily to people who aren’t overweight.
This is the topic under discussion in the recent Channel 4’s Skinny Jab Scandal: Dispatches show, with undercover reporters investigating how the drugs are being sold… and to who.
Newdays Pharmacy owner Olivier Picard was invited to take part in the documentary, explaining that these weight loss jabs should only be prescribed to people over the age of 18 and that all information should be verified before treatment is administered.
It takes no time to verify the necessary information and it can be done as quickly as asking someone to take their ID out of their pocket.
Another key point raised in the documentary was the fact that, aside from verifications not being carried out, it appears that there are cases of people gaining access to the drug without having their medical history taken, so there’s no way of knowing if it’s safe or if they’re eligible.
Furthermore, medical professionals are seemingly failing to carry out the requisite checks, simply taking people at their word and posting out the treatments after an online form has been filled out. Or, perhaps even worse, they’re seeing people in real life and giving them this medication when it’s very clear from looking at them that they have no need for it.
Mr Picard emphasised the point that he’s had patients come into the pharmacy with a BMI that clearly doesn’t make them eligible for the product and he’s refused them access on that basis, as there would be no health benefit for them.
He explained that every effort should be made to ensure that all patients are eligible for this kind of weight loss medication, noting that in Newdays Pharmacy, people are put on the scales each time they come in to ensure that it’s still safe for them to continue using the treatment.
Online guidance from the General Pharmaceutical Council is that pharmacy teams are expected to always verify identities before supplying medication.
Guidance has also recently been updated to strengthen safeguarding around weight management medication, including ensuring that there are robust processes in place to verify all information provided and ensure that medication supplies are clinically appropriate.
If you’d like to find out more about the skinny jab and whether you’re eligible, get in touch with the Newdays Pharmacy team today.