Commenting on an investigation by The Times into social media adverts promoting weight loss treatments “to get summer ready”, Dr Vicky Price, a consultant in acute medicine and president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “These adverts and the messages they are conveying are extremely worrying, particularly given the patients we are seeing with complications from these drugs have purchased them online.
“From a medical perspective we have raised concerns about this inappropriate use with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
“We have also raised awareness of the need for urgent regulation and control of access for weight loss drugs online to avoid more patients becoming unwell and these examples demonstrate why this needs to be addressed quickly.”
See Dr Price’s previous comments on the inappropriate use of weight loss medications here: www.acutemedicine.org.uk/blog/2024/06/14/urgent-regulation-needed-for-online-weight-loss-drugs-sam-president-elect-14-june-2024/.