SCARY

FDA Probes Hospitalizations Linked to Fake Ozempic: Report

Supplies of the legitimate medication are in short supply amid rocketing demand.

The Food and Drug Administration has vowed to investigate after at least three Americans were reported hospitalized after taking suspected counterfeit weight loss drugs including Ozempic, according to CBS News. As of the end of September, the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System recorded 42 reports from around the world mentioning bogus semaglutide—the antidiabetic medication used in Novo Nordisk’s drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, both of which are also used for weight loss. Only some of the total reports specifically mentioned Ozempic, including one of the three hospitalizations that took place in the U.S. More than two dozen of the reports were considered “serious” with outcomes as extreme as fatalities. An FDA spokesperson said the agency will “investigate any report of suspect counterfeit drugs to determine the public health risks and the appropriate regulatory response.”