The sale of “slimming pens,” GLP-1 agonist drugs, can only occur if pharmacies retain patients’ prescriptions. The measure has been in effect since Monday, the 23rd, decision of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).
- Car with two couples was carrying 400 injection pens valued at R$748 thousand
- Inspection seizes shipment of 'weight loss' pens, sold for R$3 each
The rule applies to medications such as:
- Ozempic;
- Mounjaro; and
- Wegovy.
“Slimming pens” are medicines used mainly in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity. The rule of withholding prescriptions aims to ensure stricter control over the marketing and use of the product.
According to the agency, the intention is to protect health, “especially because a high number of adverse events related to the use of these medications outside the indications approved by Anvisa were observed”.
The decision to withhold prescriptions is based on notification data from VigiMed, an Anvisa system. This pharmacovigilance tool indicated more adverse events related to use outside the indications approved by Anvisa in Brazil than the global data, it reported.
Slimming pen
For Anvisa, encouraging the use of “slimming pens” for aesthetic purposes only puts the health of users at risk. These promises are often accompanied by statements of rapid weight loss and without proper medical supervision.
Therefore, the sale of GLP-1 agonist drugs, including Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy, must be done in duplicate, with the prescription being retained by pharmacies and drugstores. This practice already occurs with antibiotics.
Pharmacies must include in the National System for the Management of Controlled Products (SNGPC) the recording of the purchase and sale of medicines. The decision does not change the right of the medical professional to prescribe medicines for purposes other than those described in the package insert.
Border: illegal entry
On another front, public security forces and inspectors are working together to prevent the illegal entry of “slimming pens” across the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The main crossing is the International Friendship Bridge.
A week ago, the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB) retained a shipment of 400 injectable pens, on the Friendship Bridge, in Foz do Iguaçu. The cargo was valued at R$748 thousand.
The pens were hidden in the false bottom of the trunk of a car that was traveling towards Brazil. The seizure of this type of medication was the largest ever made by the institution on land, according to the RFB.
Previously, in May, the Revenue retained a shipment of the pens, which are sold for R$3 each. The passenger, stopped at the airport in Foz do Iguaçu, said he had purchased the injectables in England, passed through Spain and landed in Asunción, Paraguay.
The medicine was being transported illegally in the man's luggage and was identified by means of a scanner. In total, 126 pens were found, 100 in the luggage that would be checked in and 26 in the carry-on bag.
