Nearly 400,000 dosage models of falsified and different unlawful medicines have been detained between January and June this 12 months
There was an nearly 15-fold improve within the variety of unauthorised drugs claiming to be GLP-1 weight-loss remedies seized by Irish authorities within the first half of this 12 months in comparison with the identical interval in 2024.
New figures from the Well being Merchandise Regulatory Authority confirmed that 11,350 models of merchandise claiming to comprise semaglutide or tirzepatide – the energetic components present in manufacturers Wegovy and Mounjaro respectively – have been seized within the preliminary six months of 2025, up from 716 models detained within the first half of 2024.
HPRA director of compliance Grainne Energy
The seizures included greater than 10,000 unauthorised GLP-1 ‘patches’, regardless of these official merchandise solely being accredited in self-injection kind. A pattern of the patches that have been examined have been discovered to not comprise semaglutide, regardless of being labelled as together with the remedy.
“We stay deeply involved by the dangers that customers are taking after they try to get hold of unlawful medicines on-line and from different unregulated sources,” stated HPRA director of compliance Gráinne Energy.
“There was notable improve within the prevalence of unauthorised GLP-1 merchandise claiming to comprise semaglutide, liraglutide or tirzepatide. These embody unauthorised tablets, pens and vials, in addition to the rising pattern of transdermal patches.
“Whereas unauthorised patches we despatched for testing didn’t comprise semaglutide as was claimed, you merely don’t know what you might be buying. These merchandise aren’t authorised medicines, haven’t any confirmed efficacy, and shouldn’t be used beneath any circumstances.”
In complete, the HPRA detained 382,395 dosage models of falsified and different unlawful medicines have been between January and June this 12 months.
Probably the most important classes of unlawful merchandise detained included sedatives (30 per cent), anabolic steroids (16 per cent), and erectile dysfunction medicines (16 per cent), adopted by GLP-1 merchandise (six per cent) and analgesics (5 per cent).
Nearly 115,000 medicines labelled as sedatives have been seized, up from 65,913 in the identical interval final 12 months. A complete of 62,751 anabolic steroids have been seized (up from 42,981 in Jan-Jun 2024) and 60,184 erectile dysfunction medicines have been held (up from 46,658).
In an announcement the HPRA stated that any claims made in on-line and social media ads that these merchandise are endorsed from by the well being regulator or nationwide charities, hospitals or healthcare professionals are unfaithful.
As a part of its enforcement remit, the HPRA continues to observe and disrupt on-line exercise selling unapproved medicines, medical gadgets, and cosmetics.
The HPRA investigations of on-line exercise additionally resulted in 2,820 web sites, webpages, e-commerce listings and/or social media pages being amended or shutdown within the first six months of 2025,
This variety of these cyber interventions is already greater than these carried out in the entire of 2024 (2,553). Such actions embody the removing of roughly 263 Shopify product listings, 30 Fb profiles, and 689 Fb adverts that includes spurious claims regarding medicines, medical gadgets and cosmetics.
“Prescription medicines obtained on-line or from unregulated sources could also be counterfeit, falsified or contaminated,” added Ms Energy. “These components pose a critical menace to the well being of anybody who makes use of them.
“The HPRA strongly advises the general public to safeguard their well being by solely utilizing prescription medicines beneath the steerage of a professional healthcare skilled and by sourcing merchandise authorised for the Irish market from a registered pharmacy.
“We urge anybody who has bought prescription medicines from unauthorised sources to cease utilizing them instantly and search recommendation from a healthcare skilled if they’ve any issues.”
