Weight loss jabs are being sold casually in pubs and fish and chip shops across London, according to a new report presented to the London Assembly's health committee. The report reveals that personal trainers are offering clients boxes of weight loss medication, some of which may be genuine but not legally prescribed, while counterfeit products pose serious health risks.
Neha Ramaiya of the General Pharmaceutical Council told the committee that a loophole allows suppliers from the EU and European Economic Area to legally send prescriptions to the UK without proper regulation. She warned that the consequences of these medicines could be 'potentially life-threatening'. Wegovy manufacturer Novo Nordisk also described fake medicines as a 'serious and growing threat to public health'.
An investigation in November found beauticians exploiting rising interest in weight loss jabs by selling potentially lethal products. Sukhi Basra from the National Pharmacy Association said patients reported being offered 'skinny jabs' by facial therapists, hairdressers, and personal trainers. One patient shared an image of a personal trainer openly offering a box of fake jabs.
Border officials seized 18,000 illegal and counterfeit weight loss and diabetes medicines between January 2024 and June 2025, but some products evade the law. Labs in China are creating imitation drugs sold for as little as £1.50 per vial, bought in bulk by dealers. In November, the MHRA seized nearly 2,000 doses of fake medication hours before dispatch, and raided two properties in Lincolnshire and Nottingham linked to a criminal gang producing and selling weight loss treatments.
