In Austria, a patient had to be treated in a hospital after using a suspected counterfeit diabetes medication. The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) announced this on Thursday in Vienna. The authority emphasized that counterfeits of the drug “Ozempic”, which is also used as a weight loss agent, have not been quality tested. Due to “possible contamination and unknown ingredients, these counterfeits can also be life-threatening,” warned the BASG. No further information was provided about the patient's condition.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam had previously warned that counterfeit “Ozempic” diabetes pens had appeared in various EU countries and Great Britain. The spray aids with labels in German came from wholesalers in Austria and Germany.

"Ozempic" has recently been increasingly used as a weight loss agent, although it is only approved for the treatment of diabetes. According to BASG, this means that the drug is only available to a limited extent for diabetes patients. “This shortage of the drug is apparently being exploited by criminal organizations to bring counterfeits of “Ozempic” onto the market,” the authority said.