An entire network exposed in Romania

A trafficking network has been uncovered in Romania involving the illegal sale of prescription drugs intended for diabetics and people wanting to lose weight quickly. A nurse is notably accused of having falsified more than 700 prescriptions in one year.

The Bucharest prosecutor's office announced on Wednesday that 13 people, including the administrator of a private clinic, a nurse and 8 pharmacists, had been arrested for trafficking in diabetes medications. The investigation took place after authorities were informed that false information had been entered into the electronic prescription system of a private clinic, allowing pharmacists to collect Ozempic, Rybelsus, Victoza and Trulicity for free from 140 pharmacies in Bucharest and Ilfov County.

At the heart of the operation were several clinic employees, including nurses, who allegedly forged prescriptions to obtain these drugs. Between January 2023 and January 2024, a single nurse is accused of being responsible for forging more than 700 prescriptions. After searching the homes of 17 people on May 28, 13 were arrested.

Employees of a private clinic and several pharmacies allegedly exploited weaknesses in the country's medical system, using digital signatures and patient data to which they had access in order to generate false prescriptions fully covered by Health Insurance under the National Health Insurance Program. Diabetes program.

The financial damage to Romania's health budget is estimated at 1 million lei (about $218,000). In the meantime, the black market sale of these drugs, essential for regulating the blood sugar levels of diabetics, has created a shortage in pharmacies.

In an interview with Adevărula Bucharest-based Romanian daily, Dr. Eduard Adamescu, a specialist in diabetes and nutritional diseases, said that while some people could buy medicines online simply to lose weight, diabetics were forced to “temporarily stop their treatment” .

“Every pharmacist has the obligation, when dispensing a medication, to verify the specialty of the prescribing doctor and the identity of the person who comes to collect the medication. These obligations have been largely ignored by pharmacists. These vulnerabilities were known and exploited accordingly by the defendants,” explains prosecutor Simona Anghel.

A “totally out of control phenomenon”

This Romanian case highlights a larger phenomenon which now also affects Europe, after North America. High demand for the drug has given rise to illegal activities that have emptied shelves and left diabetic patients in Europe without treatment. Dr. Adamescu stressed that Ozempic's trafficking is a “real trend, an almost common practice” and “totally uncontrollable.”

Other cases involve the sale of replica diabetes drugs claiming to contain Ozempic, which has led to the hospitalization of patients in the United Kingdom and Austria and reports of serious side effects such as shock hypoglycemia, vomiting and even ending in a coma.

But the discovery of this trafficking network in Romania, involving individuals from multiple pharmacies, is a rare example of a sophisticated scheme that goes beyond advertising Ozempic's replicas on social media.

A case with “one or two isolated pharmacists is unacceptable, but it can happen. But I have never heard of such a group of pharmacists involved in trafficking,” says Massy Bouhadoun, pharmacist and co-founder of Ordosafe, an application that fights against counterfeit prescriptions in France.

Side effects of semaglutide

Ozempic contains the active ingredient semaglutide which works by lowering blood sugar levels and slowing the movement of food out of the stomach, making users feel fuller for longer. Its growing popularity, making headlines for being celebrities' secret weight loss drug, has caused global shortages.

However, if taken by non-diabetics and without proper medical supervision, the drug may have side effects. Dr. Adamescu warned that drugs like Ozempic can cause “gastrointestinal upset, nausea, vomiting and bloating.” He added that people with certain medical histories, such as acute pancreatitis, should not take these medications without a prescription.

The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has issued a warning about the risks associated with the use of Ozempic in non-diabetics. The UK's medicines safety regulator has also urged the public not to buy medicines without a prescription.

But, questioned by POLICY Regarding the lack of coordination between pharmaceutical regulators that allows the black market to flourish, the European Medicines Agency said it had no responsibility for fake injections and that “the handling of falsified or counterfeit medicines is the responsibility of the forces of the order “.