TikTok users are seeing a mass of posts about how the medication can assist weight management

PHARMACIES are running low on a crucial diabetes drug that has surged in popularity after it was promoted as an appetite suppressant on social media.

Diabetics say they have struggled to get hold of Semaglutide, also known as Wegozy or Ozempic, after dozens of pharmacies were unable to make-good on GP prescriptions.

The medication is a solution that goes in insulin pens that are important for people with type 2 diabetes – that affects tens of thousands of people in Islington.

The drug has recently been approved by the NHS for long-term weight management as part of a £40million slimming trial.

But pharmacists have told the Tribune this week that stocks had run dangerously low due to “supply problems” believed to be connected to viral TikTok films touting the drug as a miracle weight-loss cure with catchy looped music and hashtags.

There has been a wave of influencers, celebrities and famous faces – including mega rich Elon Musk – making “transformation” films about what has been dubbed Hollywood slimmers’ “best-kept secret”. The government has also approved prescriptions of the drug for specialist NHS weight management services.

Merlin John, who lives in Angel, said: “This is an important drug but it is also now being used as an appetite suppressant; it looks like that is driving up demand.

“I went all round the Angel, Caledonian Road and Highbury. At Boots they told me to try an independent chemist. But it’s not just Islington. You can’t go to the hospital pharmacies because the GP prescription doesn’t work there.”

Mr John, whose step-son is diabetic, added: “We don’t know what will happen if he can’t get his medication. But we’re going to find out as he’s only got enough left for a few days.”

Type 2 diabetes is a common condition that causes the level of glucose in the blood to become too high.

Semaglutide can help the body produce insulin and reduces the amount of glucose being produced by the liver.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said: “The weight-loss jab is effective, but supply is still not available due to high demand. Also, there is more to weight loss than just a jab. Diet, exercise and behavioural change must be part of the solution.”

There are also concerns the drug may be being sold off-label to people vulnerable to eating disorders through online pharmacies that promise access in just a few clicks and without a GP prescription.

Dr Tony Winston, an expert in eating disorders, said: “It is also likely that people with an eating disorder, or at risk of developing one, will be attracted to the idea of a drug which leads to weight loss also linked to popular celebrities.”

Diabetes UK said that in the US and Australia last year similar social media films were “exacer­bating a shortage of the diabetes medication after being touted online as an effective weight-loss treatment”.

It added: “The social media platform TikTok has been at the centre of a number of controversies where Semaglutide is marketed to people without type 2 diabetes or obesity as a quick-fix weight-loss drug. Semaglutide is indeed a promising and safe medication that is accessible to certain patients through their doctor.”

Based on evidence from clinical trials, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says Semaglutide could help people reduce their weight by more than 10 per cent, if implemented alongside nutrition and lifestyle changes.

The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said yesterday that the drug was “a really exciting innovation” adding that obesity was a “massive challenge to our NHS” and that “9 in 10 type 2 diabetics are overweight”.

A statement from Semaglutide manufac­turers Novo Nordisk said: “We’re working to address intermittent supply of Ozempic for people living with type 2 diabetes in the UK. This is due to unprecedented levels of demand which has tested our manufacturing capacity.”