WEIGHT, height, medical history . . . the questions on the online questionnaire are familiar.
We answer each honestly except for one: what is your date of birth?
We went undercover to expose the skinny jabs black market[/caption]
The Boots worker handed over the drug without checking any ID[/caption]
Amber is handed the Wegovy jab[/caption]
Our undercover reporter — who at 16 years old is ineligible for the powerful weight-loss drugs we are applying for — amends her information to say she is 18.
The application is accepted and, four days later, our teen reporter is granted a prescription for injectable weight-loss medication, Wegovy, at Boots.
We are investigating the UK’s biggest high-street pharmacy chain for a new Dispatches documentary, which uncovers its failings to carry out adequate checks on patients applying for so-called skinny jabs.
During our investigation, we found that Boots was the only pharmacy chain that did not ask for photo ID.
NHS nurses flogging for cash
The reporter used her real name, address, weight, height and medical history information to apply for Wegovy.
The only information she amended was her date of birth.
She also shared her real GP’s details with Boots.
Despite the falsified birthday, our reporter was prescribed the medication via its online doctor platform.
We sent her to two separate Boots stores, four weeks apart, to collect her prescription.
She was not asked for photo ID on either occasion — and successfully picked up the medication both times.
I am shocked at how easy it was for a child to access these drugs despite Boots’ own website clearly stating that it will not prescribe Wegovy to anyone under the age of 18.
Boots also promises to contact patients’ GPs as “an additional safety measure”.
However, after checking with her GP twice, our reporter was told Boots had not been in touch.
Responding to our findings, Boots said: “Patient safety is our number one priority.
“We always strive to provide a high quality of care to patients including those whose weight is impacting their health.
“Although Wegovy is licensed for patients aged 12 and over, our policy is not to prescribe to under 18s.”
Boots also said it has now strengthened its ID policy to only accept official photographic ID, following publication of updated guidance from the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Boots offer a weight loss service online and in store[/caption]
It added: “We will further review our processes in consultation with GPhC and Care Quality Commission.
“We urge people not to falsify their health information to obtain any prescription medicine.”
Yet Boots’ lack of checks is just one of many alarming incidents within the wider medical industry where weight-loss jabs are being handed out to patients who are not eligible.
We sent her to two separate Boots stores, four weeks apart, to collect her prescription. She was not asked for photo ID on either occasion – and managed to collect the medication both times.
Ellie Flynn
Weight-loss jabs, which also include brands Ozempic and Mounjaro, mimick the action of a hormone that regulates appetite to help you feel full.
They can be prescribed for patients with a BMI over 30, or lower for those from certain ethnic minorities or with particular health conditions.
The Wegovy was bought by the undercover reporter from a nurse[/caption]
But our investigation also uncovered registered nurses prescribing skinny jabs to patients who have a BMI well below 30.
To investigate whether registered nurses are meeting safety standards, we contacted 32 about prescriptions.
Two undercover reporters, who are aged over 18 but have BMIs of 24.2 and 23.8, lied about their height and weight on applications, to make it look like they were eligible for the drugs.
Shockingly, three nurses sent drugs in the post without any kind of weight verification.
Dangerous drug
One of the nurses asked for a video call, but did not question the reporter or ask her to verify her height or weight during the consultation. She went on to prescribe the medication.
After seeing how easy it was to get skinny jabs sent in the post, we sent our reporters to collect the drugs in person from two more registered nurses, who still work within the NHS.
We wanted to test if they would still hand over the medication when confronted with someone who has clearly lied about their weight.
At the meetings, which took place at the nurses’ homes, neither of our reporters was weighed or had their BMI checks.
It felt like every shift I would be aware of somebody in the department that would come in with a complication of a weight loss drug
A&E doctor Vicky Price
One nurse even told our reporter “you’ll not have a lot to lose,” suggesting she had noticed that the journalist did not have an issue with her weight.
Even more concerningly, this nurse has prescribed our reporter a high 1mg dose of Wegovy — not the 0.25mg that patients should be prescribed when they first start using the medication.
Patients shouldn’t be given a 1mg pen needle until at least their third month on the medication as exposure to higher doses can lead to more extreme side effects.
Our investigation comes after it was recently revealed that there have been 82 deaths linked to weight-loss medications in the UK.
Vicky Price, a senior doctor working in A&E, told Dispatches that she has seen a trend of patients being admitted to hospital with serious complications after taking skinny jabs to get “beach-body ready”.
She said: “It felt like every shift I’d be aware of somebody in the department that would come in with a complication of a weight loss drug.
“In worst-case scenarios we’ve had pancreatitis, which is when you get an inflammation of the pancreas that can be life threatening. So there are patients that have to go to intensive care because of that complication.”
While our investigation found some medical professionals were flouting rules and potentially putting people at risk, it also revealed those in desperate need of weight-loss medication were at the mercy of a postcode lottery.
This undercover reporter was able to get a prescription despite being well below the required BMI[/caption]
The undercover reporter who got the jabs from nurses[/caption]
Our exclusive findings show that four areas of England and four NHS hospital trusts do not have access to the drugs on the NHS, even if patients are clinically obese.
The affected areas are: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Kent and Medway; Great Manchester; Dorset.
The hospital trusts are: Doncaster and Bassetlaw; University Hospitals Birmingham; York and Scarborough; North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Obese deprived of drug
It is a sobering statistic, put into perspective when we speak to Dr Paul Evans, a GP in Gateshead, where 68 per cent of the population is obese.
Paul said: “We’ve had a lot patients who have come to us asking for these jabs for weight loss and so far we’ve had to tell them, ‘I’m sorry but, we can’t do that.
“This is not the leafy suburbs, this is not the stockbroker belt . . . So if you want the definition of a two-tier health system, this is it.”
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, responded to our investigation, saying: “These findings are deeply concerning.
“These are licensed medicines with potentially serious side effects, so it is totally unacceptable for any retailer to prescribe them without the correct medical supervision and ID and age verification.
“Healthcare regulatory bodies such as the General Pharmaceutical Council have the powers to investigate and act against rogue prescribers.
“We expect them to do so and have sought urgent assurances that action is being taken in this case.
“There can be real health benefits if these treatments are provided safely to the right patients, but they are not for getting beach-body ready, and retailers must act responsibly in prescribing them.”
- Skinny Jab Scandal: Dispatches is available to watch and stream on Channel 4 tonight at 8pm.
