A 16-year-old girl was able to buy weight-loss drugs from High Street chemist Boots, twice, after ordering them online without age verification then collecting them in person. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for regulators to act after a Channel 4 investigation showed how easy it was for a child to buy the medication.
Channel 4 Dispatches showed the teenage girl buying the weight-loss drugs unchallenged despite Boots’ policy of not prescribing to under-18s. She lied about her date of birth to buy the drugs.Dispatches reporter Ellie Flynn said: “I was so shocked that the undercover reporter was prescribed it so easily. She is a child.”
The documentary, to be screened tonight, also claims that nurses, including those win the NHS, can prescribe weight-loss injections privately without making proper checks, reports The Mirror. Dispatches contacted nurses for prescriptions and several sent the drugs without verifying weight or height, taking false details as fact. Ellie said: “This has become a side hustle for medical professionals. There has been such a gold rush around these drugs and there’s unprecedented demand. There is obviously an opportunity to make money. In the end, patients are suffering and profits are being made.”
Weight-loss jabs mimic an appetite-regulating hormone and cost from £180 a month. But doctors warn they can have serious die effects.
Dr Vicky Price, an A&E doctor, said: “It felt like every shift I would be aware of somebody that would come in with a complication of a weight-loss drug. We’ve seen heart rates going erratically, people with acidosis, meaning a high level of acid in their blood. In worst case scenarios we’ve had pancreatitis, an inflammation which can be life-threatening.”
Reporter Ellie said: “The jabs can do amazing things for people who have clinical obesity or other health conditions, but we’ve been fed that it’s a miracle. The messaging has been confusing and it’s really trivialised.
“A lot of people get their information from social media, particularly young people, but they are hearing about it as a quick way to lose a bit of weight, not in the context of what the drug has been licensed for. These are serious drugs.”
In the Dispatches test purchase, the reporter filled out an online form for Boots. She had to upload two photos of herself and enter her height, weight and age.
Entering Boots with a hidden camera in January, the girl – at 16, officially still a child – was asked her date of birth, then given the drug. Boots was the only pharmacy chain investigated that failed to demand photo ID as proof of age.
In February, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC) introduced guidelines stating that pharmacies must either see the patients in person on a video consultation or request GP records. But eight days after the guidance came in, Dispatches sent the same girl to another Boots to collect a second dose. Once again, she was not asked for photo ID and was sold the drugs. Her GP was not contacted. Alima Batchelor, of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, said it indicated “a systemic failure”. Mr Streeting said: “Healthcare regulatory bodies such as the GPC have the powers to investigate and act against rogue prescribers. We expect them to do so and have sought urgent assurances that action is being taken.”
A statement from Boots Online Doctor, which now demands photo ID, said: “Patient safety is our number one priority. We always strive to provide a high quality of care to patients, including for those whose weight is impacting their health. Although Wegovy is licensed for patients aged 12 and over, our policy is not to prescribe to under 18s. Following publication of the updated General Pharmaceutical Council guidance, we have strengthened our ID policy to only accept official photographic ID. We will further review our processes in consultation with the GPhC and Care Quality Commission. We urge people not to falsify their health information to obtain any prescription medicine.”
The probe also found nurses prescribing jabs to two undercover reporters whose BMIs were 24.2 and 23.8, well below the threshold 30. Ellie said: “One gave our reporter a higher dose, which means you are more susceptible to serious side effects, especially if you are already not the right BMI. It’s really shocking. It could be really dangerous.”
The Nursing and Midwifery Council told Dispatches: “We will carefully consider the findings.” Dispatches also discovered a postcode lottery in the NHS, with four NHS hospital trusts having zero weight-loss drug patients.
Skinny Jab Scandal: Dispatches is available to watch and stream on Channel 4 at 8pm on Tuesday March 4.