Easy and Simple Non-Face-to-Face Prescriptions
Concerns About Misuse and Side Effects
"Have you tried using Saxenda? As long as you can inject yourself, there’s no big problem."
When requesting a prescription for a diet injection through a non-face-to-face medical application (app), the attending doctor responded by phone. After providing height and weight, the doctor said, "Just follow the instructions," and issued the prescription. It took only one minute to get the prescription, and the fee was 4,500 won. When asked about side effects, the answer was, "Generally, there are no problems."
As the summer vacation season approaches, many people are interested in dieting to achieve a slim figure, and prescriptions for diet drugs and injections through non-face-to-face apps are rapidly increasing. Experts have expressed concerns about easy and simple non-face-to-face prescriptions, warning that abuse of diet injections can cause various side effects and addiction symptoms.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, from May 2018 to June 2020, over two years, narcotic appetite suppressants were prescribed to about 3.22 million people with more than 500 million pills dispensed. This means an average of 157 pills per person. The problem is that many prescriptions are given without sufficient knowledge of the addiction risks or side effects of appetite suppressants. According to a survey by the National Academy of Medicine of Korea, only 22.5% of respondents said they were aware of the addiction risks when taking appetite suppressants. Only 50% reported receiving an explanation about the possibility of addiction from medical staff at the time of prescription.
With growing interest in dieting, major social networking services (SNS) and communities are sharing easy and simple ways to get diet injections prescribed. When accessing a certain non-face-to-face medical app, "diet injection" was listed among the most sought-after prescriptions. A notification also appeared saying, "Due to nationwide stock shortages, please check with pharmacies for availability."
Mr. Lee (28), who recently received a diet injection prescription, said, "Since I had to wear revealing clothes before vacation, I urgently got a diet injection prescription, but the local pharmacy had no stock, so I went all the way from Incheon to Jongno," adding, "Many around me think diet injections are like cold medicine?you can freely get them prescribed whenever needed."
Experts warn that diet injections not only come with side effects such as nausea and lethargy but are also inappropriate for patients with diabetes, emphasizing the need for thorough consultation with a doctor. They expressed concerns about the convenience of non-face-to-face medical care.
Professor Beomjin Lee of Ajou University’s College of Pharmacy said, "Even aspirin, which is commonly used in daily life, can cause side effects like gastrointestinal disorders. Diet injections naturally come with side effects and can even lead to addiction symptoms," adding, "Face-to-face medical consultation is necessary. If diet injections are indiscriminately prescribed through non-face-to-face methods, low-quality drugs aimed at private profit may flood the market," he warned.
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