Do you agree there should be more checks before drugs are prescribed.?

[RedHillLady]

There has been a lot in the media recently about how the current system is too weak and needs to be more robust.
I think we are going to see increased regulation soon and I see that as a good thing.

Why do you see that as a good thing? Do you not approve of Weight Loss Injections - should people just eat less and move more like you've managed to do???

Quite the opposite! I'm taking mounjaro myself but I think the current system is far too weak and open to abuse.
I think there should be more checks before a prescription is issued.

What kind of drugs? My morphine patches have different labels on to my other medication.
They have been checked three times.. they are delivered by my local pharmacy to me.. they know me well.. but l always have to give my name...DOB when the delivery person comes to door and then we check it again together.

I'm on MJ and have lost 3 stone with easily another 4-7 to go.

I think the current checks are far too lax, and I'd have appreciated a proper consultation with a human to discuss whether MJ was the best medicine for me rather than what amounts to an online order.

I'd have appreciated a more human touch on learning how to inject myself too.

You only have to look anywhere people discuss these jabs to see the loopholes are easily exploited by people with a history of or current anorexia, contraindicated medical conditions and high risk factors.

I agree OP. I was actually shocked how easily I got it prescribed. I had originally planned on using boots as I thought "oh that's fine, I can pop into the one near my work for my weigh ins. "

I am not against the tightening of regulations. These drugs are prescription medication and the possibility of misuse is quite possible. However as more pharmacies begin selling the drug hopefully this won't have too big of an impact on those who need the medication.

Checks as in prescribing. Not dispensing.

Well of course my GP checked with me as well as my consultant.
If you mean Mounjaro.. just say Mounjaro.
I actually spoke to my diabetic nurse before starting it.
The provider did let my GP know.

Weight loss drugs. As per the thread topic.

FFS, itching for a fight much?
There is world of difference between being against WLI and thinking the controls should be tighter.

Fully agree. I've seen several posts here and on Reddit where it's clear that the person taking GLP1 has and eating disorder and/or is well below the BMI where they should be receiving GLP1. In addition, there are too many posts from people who are already on GLP1 and who clearly don't understand what the drugs do. All of that is worrying.

I had several meetings with an endocrinologist before starting - and he really made sure I understood the science and was prepared for the effects and side effects. That's how it should be, right?

As far as I can see, anecdotally, it’s more about complete scams and people obtaining them from unregistered unregulated sources that’s the problem.

it’s also really difficult if people lie to get it, that’s hard to mitigate against.
I can’t think of another medication with cut offs that might seem arbitrary to some (because BMI is notoriously crude), that is so desired.

its also difficult because how much distress someone feels at their eating being out of control, and their weight isn’t always proportionate to how clinically obese they are

Then of course there’s the risk of abuse in the same way as speed has been misused for weight loss, and laxatives.

@KentishMama

I agree. I'm on a few forums and it's clear that many people have no idea about the drugs they are taking, it's really quite scary!

This is the weightloss injections board though, so clearly the OP meant Mounjaro.

Not sure what you're talking about. This thread and the entire board is about weightloss injections. Perhaps you've misunderstood?

As I said in the other thread about this, I don't think the proposed checks (proposed by a body of essentially high street pharmacists who would like the business back with themselves and not given to the cheaper online pharmacies) are sufficient to do much of anything beyond eyeballing someone to see if they're big enough to meet the BMI criteria.

The majority of misuse of this drug (people splitting doses, or people who think mg = ml when they decide to syringe an amount out) will not be fixed by doing this. The sort of people who come online here and in other MJ forums asking questions which are easily answered in large print in the directions that came with the drug will still carry on doing so.

Honestly? What most of us could use while taking this drug is regular blood tests and medical appointments, but those aren't on the table (the whole reason pharmacists have been able to prescribe more medications is because our healthcare system is already overworked). So we're now being told, by the people who would directly benefit monetarily by such a change, that this change is needed, to include a 20 minute (why 20 minutes? Twice as long as any GP appointment) consultation.

This isn't going to change the secondhand market which clearly exists, where people are selling prefilled syringes of something down at the hairdressers, or whatever is happening.

I'm happy to do a 20 minute (again, weird amount of time) consultation via a video conference if that makes people feel safer about this drug. I will, however, be really annoyed if this translates into needing to go into the nearest city just to do it in person, or worse, go into the nearest city just to do this consultation then pay hundreds of pounds more for the exact same prescription.

TBF though, most people don't know about any of the other drugs they take either. How many people understand the difference between say aspirin, ibuprofen and paracetamol? People just want the quick fix, until it goes wrong at which point they start bleating.

I'm with ASDA and I'm happy with the level of control and support they provide, but then I did a lot of research before choosing both the medication and the provider.

I do think that informing the GP should not be optional. I cannot see why they should not be informed, unless of course they've already told someone that there are contraindications.

What I would like to see less of, is the use of discount codes, I think this encourage abuse. Chopping and changing providers doesn't provide continuity of care. Maybe the pricing needs to be uniform across providers to discourage this.

This is the case for the vast majority of drugs. Why focus on WLI?

yes sorry I agree with the others: that is a fact that carries on to every other drug people take. Few people understand how hard paracetamol is on your body and liver in particular. They don't know exactly why or how most drugs they take work, as long as they work, they aren't bothered.

People who aren't interested in being informed (until they have a bad side effect ofc) will carry on being just like that. They will still be motivated to take MJ because they can see that it works, and that's their main concern.

I think there needs to be an element of trust and personal responsibility as with other drugs - unfortunately people with an eating disorder can lie and get the drugs but should that change things for everyone? It can be part of their condition to behave like that, it is asked if people have an eating disorder during the consultation.

It does seem like if the pharmacy is concerned about weight they do follow up by requesting more photos, or in some cases they have video consultations (e.g Oushk) for those of lower weights.

Well we're on the Weight Loss Injections board so...

Loose Women had a shockingly badly researched discussion about this today. They ended by telling people considering using WLI to go to their GP for a prescription 🤦🏻‍♀️

But this was all available to you, it just costs more to provide this service. Why did you choose a prescriber who didn't offer this additional service that you would have appreciated, was it the cheaper price?

I personally feel that different options appeal to different people. I prefer the current approach that most online providers offer, but appreciate that others prefer the additional support that is available.

(I accidentally signed up with the latter type initially and moved away from them immediately as it was too intrusive for me and an additional cost that I didn't get any benefit from.)

It’s clearly not going to happen, it’s just some expensive chemists wanting the low cost online ones taken out. The government wants these injections rolled out privately, it will take pressure off the nhs ultimately,

the illness stats are incredibly low, not just here but in major regions with history, like the USA, no one is going to support the likes of boots trying to overcharge and take the comp out,

It is the same with many "drugs".

I got HRT prescribed after a 3 minute telephone call, where I basically said I can't sleep and would like to try HRT. Was asked if I had a family history of breast cancer then told they'd write a prescription.

I was put on blood pressure meds 8 years ago based on a comment from my optician to get my blood pressure checked and one reading in the Drs.

Ds got a roaccutane prescription in a 5 min appointment without even trying oral antibiotics first or any warnings of side effects.

My mum got all sorts prescribed for all her niggling problems which when we read the leaflets were not suitable for her because she was a kidney dialysis patient.

I am more worried about people being mis prescribed all of that lot than WLI

The only reason these particular drugs are getting attention is the media hype. The medical services in the uk (nhs and private) are woefully inadequate but they need to pretend otherwise.

Look at nurofen, 2000 deaths a year from it. The big phamacies aren’t requesting they do consultations for that. Why? Because there isn’t big money in it.