They were thinking about taking Ozempic until they were hospitalized for seizures. It turns out it was a fake, according to authorities.

• Several people were hospitalized after injecting fake Ozempic, Austrian authorities said.
• The fake pens appear to have been dosed with insulin, causing seizures and hypoglycemia.
• Authorities have warned other countries to be wary of fake Ozempic pens coming from “questionable sources”.

Several people have been hospitalized with life-threatening seizures and hypoglycemia after taking counterfeit versions of the diabetes drug Ozempic, according to Austrian authorities.

Investigators believe the patients obtained the fake Ozempic pens they believed were real from a single doctor, without going through a pharmacy.

Now Austrian health authorities are rushing to warn citizens across Europe to be wary of dangerous counterfeit versions of the drug, widely used to help lose weight.

On Monday, Austria’s Federal Office for Healthcare Security and the country’s criminal intelligence service issued a joint statement saying the fake pens appear to have been dosed with insulin, instead of semaglutide, the ingredient active Ozempic.

Semaglutide is a newer medication that is generally safer to use than insulin because it acts as a gut hormone that indirectly helps control blood sugar levels by improving insulin sensitivity. On the other hand, an overdose of insulin can kill you.

Shortages are pushing people toward alternative, unapproved versions of Ozempic

Ozempic, the blockbuster diabetes drug that is often used off-label for weight loss, has been in shortage worldwide for many months, a problem expected to extend into 2024.

Many people turn to compounding pharmacies, which are usually licensed to make generic versions of patented medications in times of shortage. But the quality of compounded semaglutide varies widely.

Authorities in the United States have warned consumers that some compounding pharmacies are actually selling salts of semaglutide, instead of the base form of the compound that has been tested safe for humans.

“This shortage is apparently being exploited by criminal organizations to place counterfeit Ozempic on the market,” Austrian health authorities said in a statement on Monday.

How to spot a fake Ozempic pen

“Stocks of the batch concerned could still be in circulation,” warned the authorities.

The fake pens under investigation are a darker blue than the real Ozempic, authorities said, and the safety window and dose adjustment ring appear a bit off:

The European Medicines Agency said last week that fake Ozempic pens like these were showing up at wholesalers in the European Union and the United Kingdom, but this is the first time authorities have reported that Fake pens cause real harm.

The labels of all the fake pens identified so far are in German and appear to come from Austria and Germany, the EMA said.