Q&A: Discussing the Dangers of Buying GLP-1s From Online Pharmacies
Timothy Mackey, MAS, PhD, discusses a study that sought to determine the risk of sourcing semaglutide from online platforms.
The rise in popularity of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s) since 2022 has resulted in shortages of the drugs and a proliferation of dangerous products being sold through illegal online pharmacies. In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, investigators from the University of California San Diego set out to determine the risk of sourcing semaglutide from online platforms.1
Q&A: Discussing the Dangers of Buying GLP-1s From Online Pharmacies / mbruxelle - stock.adobe.com
In an interview with Drug Topics, Timothy Mackey, MAS, PhD, professor of global health at the University of California, San Diego and a member of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies’ Academic Advisory Panel, who was an author on the study, discussed the dangers associated with sourcing GLP-1s from online pharmacies, what can be done to increase awareness about illegal online pharmacies, and the key role pharmacists play in warning patients about the dangers of sourcing GLP-1s from online platforms.
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Drug Topics: You recently published a study that examined the risk of online semaglutide sourcing. Can you discuss how the study was conducted?
Timothy Mackey, MAS, PhD: The study was conducted with 3 phases. We looked for no-prescription online pharmacies that sold semaglutide, GLP-1s, Ozempic, a lot of those different keywords that most consumers would look for. We were trying to replicate what a consumer would see at the time, which was about a year ago, what they would be exposed to when they searched for semaglutide online. Then we looked at all the websites, and we identified those that were actually selling product or purporting to sell product. Then we selected a few sites that we thought were highest risk, because they offered it for cheap, and they offered it explicitly with no prescription required. Then we test purchased from 6 of those vendors. Half of them scammed us, and half of them sent us product that we then tested with analytical chemistry testing.
Drug Topics: What were the key findings from the study?
Mackey: The key findings are that there are a lot of online pharmacies out there that were selling no-prescription semaglutide then and even now. The ones that we selected, half of them scammed us, and they're non-delivery scams. [They] scammed us out of the $200 or so we paid for the medicines. But there were additional scams that they were running to try to get more money out of us to supposedly clear the products through customs, which we know is all false. Then 3 of the products we got had safety concerns associated with them, or quality issues that didn't look like the authentic product. They had some ingredients that didn't have the same purity as what was labeled. So all of those factors result in an environment where products [that are] very popular [are] available online from illicit providers, and there are several safety concerns associated with sourcing online.
Drug Topics: What are the primary reasons that people are seeking semaglutide and other GLP-1 products from online pharmacies?
Mackey: Well, there's a shortage going on, so a lot of times they can't get it from a licensed provider. Two, they may be underinsured or uninsured, and so they're looking for other alternatives to get the product. And a lot of times, people are tricked into buying from an online pharmacy, because they think it's legitimate. And then 3, they're really suffering from a weight management disease issue, and they see a celebrity talking about it, and the first place they go is to Google, because it's the easiest way to find the product, and that's where they're exposed to online pharmacies.
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