Swissmedic has warned against buying drugs from unreliable sources, particularly from abroad, after reports of hospitalisations in connection with falsified injectables of Ozempic. The medicine, which is approved to treat type 2 diabetes, has been touted as a weight-loss drug on social media. The individuals affected were admitted to hospital with acute hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels). In one case, an insulin pen had been packaged as an Ozempic pen. Hypoglycaemia triggered by an insulin overdose is life-threatening and must be treated immediately, wrote the Swiss drugs regulator. Ozempic is authorised in Switzerland for type 2 diabetes, which is adult-onset diabetes. The drug, developed by the Danish company Novo Nordisk, can be used for weight loss if prescribed by a doctor for “off-label use”. In such a case, the drug must be used under medical supervision. The active ingredient in Ozempic, semaglutide, is used at a higher dose in another drug, Wegovy, which Swissmedic...
