Severe allergic reaction after patient injected illegal Mounjaro

On January 23 this year, a doctor at Huddinge Hospital calls Tomas Nilsson, a senior investigator in the Swedish Medicines Agency’s Illegal Drugs Group.

According to the report obtained by DN, a patient was hospitalized with a “very strong reaction/shock (probably allergic)” after injecting black market Mounjaro.

“This is the first time I have heard that a patient in Sweden is suspected of having suffered serious side effects from this type of preparation,” says Tomas Nilsson.

However, he believes there may be a large number of people who have suffered side effects from illegally purchased slimming drugs.

– If you bought it illegally, you probably won’t report it to us even if you experience side effects. That’s perhaps why we rarely hear about it. Only if a doctor is really that committed will he get in touch…

Is there a routine for how hospitals should handle such incidents?

– No, hospitals must report suspected side effects from legal medicines. However, I am not aware that there is a routine for tracking illegal drugs.

The drug Mounjaro is prescribed to patients suffering from diabetes or suffering from obesity. It contains the active ingredient tirzepatide, which is similar to semaglutide contained in Ozempic.

Because the expensive drugs are not lightly prescribed and are not subsidized for weight loss, this has led to demand on the black market, which DN has previously reported on.

In this case The patient reportedly told the doctor at Huddinge Hospital that he “bought the product from a man who reportedly sells it to many people.” The patient must have purchased the preparation in ampoules, mixed it herself and injected it in the same way for the last two years.

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The solution used is described as “cloudy”. Tomas Nilsson, an investigator at the Medical Products Agency, received the call from the doctor at Huddinge Hospital.

– It certainly doesn’t sound good to my ears. The solution should not be cloudy. Since the idea is that it is to be injected, the contents should be dissolved in water. However, if it is cloudy, that means it contains something that does not dissolve in water.

The doctor called Tomas Nilsson to consult on the patient’s treatment.

– The doctor who contacted us suspected that it was a serious allergic reaction and especially wanted to find out if we knew what the solution could possibly contain.

But because the ampoule In this case, it was thrown into the emergency room. In this case, it is not possible to analyze the contents, examine exactly what was contained therein and whether and how it may have been contaminated.

However, Tomas Nilsson and his colleagues also purchased and analyzed other counterfeit drugs sold to Swedish consumers. He therefore points out that it is not uncommon for counterfeit products to contain substances other than they should, or a combination of several different substances.

– We’ve seen the whole spectrum, from something containing what it should to something not containing what it should at all. Contaminated products appeared and so on, he says and continues:

– So this is all homemade. Nowadays you often buy an ampoule of semaglutide, for example, which you dissolve and inject yourself.

The Swedish Medicines Agency Experts also warn that purchasing counterfeit drugs sold illegally online and marketed through social media could pose major health risks. This is because you do not know what the product actually contains or can ensure that it has been handled correctly.

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With reference to For patient confidentiality reasons, Karolinska University Hospital, which treated the patient, declines to comment on this matter. The American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly produces the real Mounjaro preparation.

Eli Lilly writes in an email to DN that they have tested counterfeit products and found products with critical safety, sterility and efficacy issues, including products contaminated with bacteria, high in endotoxin, and heavily contaminated.

The company writes that it is working with law enforcement and media platforms to detect and stop illegal sales of its drugs. They say last year they helped shut down thousands of social media accounts and websites around the world that illegally sold drugs.

Additionally, in their email response, they write that they “continue to take action to address patient safety risks posed by counterfeit medications on the black market.”