More and more parents are finding Ozempic needles in their teenagers’ bedrooms because their children have bought the drug illicitly online. 

The weight loss drug was first approved for use in 2018 by the European Medicines Agency and has been hailed by medics as revolutionising the treatment of obesity. 

However, increasingly it is being bought without a doctor’s prescription by people who simply want to lose weight. 

On The Pat Kenny Show, HSE Obesity Lead Dr Donal O’Shea said it is vital that people remember what the drugs are actually for.

 “We need to change the narrative away from weight loss drugs to obesity treatments - because that’s what these medications are,” he said. 

“They are treatments for the chronic disease of obesity and they’re very effective in about 40% of people who take them. 

“They don’t work in about 25 to 30%, the ones we currently have. In a few years time, we will have drugs that appear in trials to work for everybody. 

“Then they cause side effects that make them intolerable for 20, 25% of people.” 

A woman with Ozempic pens. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Dr O’Shea warned that anyone taking weight loss medication to lose weight will start to gain weight again as soon as they stop taking the medication. 

He added he finds it “incredibly concerning” how many young people have been able to obtain weight loss drugs through adverts on TikTok. 

“Parents are finding these pens under their kids’ pillows in their bedrooms,” he explained. 

“It is a real thing; we don’t know quite how widespread it is but when you hear reports from GPs… then it’s happening a lot more than we think it’s happening.” 

Given the serious side effects the medication has on some people, Dr O’Shea urged people not to take them without medication support. 

“You’re playing Russian roulette with a needle and syringe that’s arriving at your door in an envelope,” he said. 

“It’s amazing.”

Main image: An Ozempic injection. Picture by: Alamy.com.