Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has issued a warning about fraudulent AI-generated videos circulating on social media that falsely show doctors endorsing weight loss patches. The trust confirmed that the clinicians depicted are not members of its staff and that the videos are entirely fabricated.
The alert comes amid a surge in the use of weight-loss drugs in the UK. A study by University College London found that approximately 1.6 million adults in England, Wales, and Scotland used medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro between early 2024 and early 2025, representing about 3% of the adult population.
Online pharmacy Chemist4U noted that the weight loss patches have emerged following the success of GLP-1 injections like semaglutide. The pharmacy warned that the patches are being marketed by paid influencers and do not contain any GLP-1 ingredients, despite being promoted as a cheaper alternative to regulated injections.
Chemist4U cautioned that switching to these unproven patches could lead to weight regain and force users to restart treatment from scratch, resulting in lost progress and money. The trust encouraged the public to report the fraudulent videos to the social media platforms on which they appear.
