▲ Photo of the caught shopping mall
Authorities have cracked down on a massive number of cases involving the illegal sale or attempted sale of obesity treatments such as Mounjaro and Wegovy on second-hand trading platforms and online shopping malls.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KFDA) announced today (October 6) that it uncovered 949 posts violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as a result of inspecting online illegal sales, brokerages, and advertising activities regarding glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity treatments this year.
The KFDA has requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission and other relevant entities to block access to each of the offending posts.
Looking at the detected cases by type, online posts for direct sales and sales site referrals accounted for the largest share with 716 cases (75.4%).
Referrals to sales sites via cafes and blogs followed with 129 cases (13.6%).
In addition, there were 72 cases (7.6%) of posts directing users to one-on-one chat accounts via social networking services (SNS), and 32 cases (3.4%) of peer-to-peer second-hand transactions.
GLP-1 obesity treatments are prescription drugs that must be administered according to a prescribed dosage and method under a doctor's prescription and a pharmacist's medication guidance. Therefore, they must not be distributed or purchased through online direct overseas purchases or peer-to-peer transactions.
Furthermore, these treatments require a cold chain (refrigerated and frozen storage) to be maintained, and if proper temperatures are not maintained during the process of bringing them into South Korea from abroad, they can spoil.
An official from the KFDA stated, "In particular, products purchased directly from overseas are not approved in South Korea, meaning their safety and efficacy have not been fully verified, and their manufacturing and distribution processes cannot be confirmed, posing risks such as counterfeit or defective pharmaceuticals."
The official added, "Even if damages occur during use, it is difficult to receive legal protection such as product recalls or compensation."
(Photo provided by KFDA, Yonhap News)
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