Injectables, weight-loss jabs: The counterfeit drugs being imported into Australia

Authorities have seized counterfeit medications including weight-loss jabs that could pose serious health risks. This is what to look out for.

Example of the packing on the counterfeit Roche-branded Laroscorbine Platinum seized by Australian authorities. Picture: TGA

Counterfeit medications including fake cosmetic injectables, “substandard” weight-loss jabs and a popular anti-vaxxer drug have been seized at the border, authorities have revealed.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration issued alerts for three different counterfeit pharmaceuticals on Tuesday afternoon, warning they had intercepted multiple imports of fake drugs.

These included sleek-looking, branded boxes for a skin brightening injectable that appeared “genuine”, but had supposedly been manufactured by a company that stopped making that drug two decades ago.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has issued alerts for three different counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Picture: Getty

The TGA alert said the product, labelled as Laroscorbine Platinum, was a fake that could pose serious health risks and Roche no longer manufactured that product.

“While these products appear genuine … this, along with any product identified as Roche branded Laroscorbine is not genuine,” the alert said.

“Consumers should be warned that manufacturers of counterfeit goods are producing products that, to the untrained eye, may appear legitimate, highlighting the need to purchase your medicines from legitimate sources using the lawful supply chain,” the alert said.

Images of the packaging show the fake goods even featured a “Beware of Counterfeit” warning.

Counterfeit Ivermectin products seized by authorities. Picture: TGA

The TGA said imports of “substandard” semaglutide — a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug suffering from huge global shortages — and “counterfeit” Ivermectin had also been detected.

Authorities warned “several” Fitaro-branded semaglutide syringes — which even if real have not been approved by Australia’s drug regulator — were deemed fakes after testing showed they contained a smaller dose of the active drug than advertised.

The TGA said testing of two seized Ivermectin products — sold under the name IverJohn-12 and Ivervid-12 — showed they also contained a smaller dose than stated.

The administration said both products had already flagged in previous counterfeit alerts, in 2021 and 2022, and were once again purchased “online from an overseas website and were not brought from an Australian pharmacy”.

The TGA has been forced to issue multiple warnings in the last five years about Ivermectin after false claims about its use as a Covid treatment — which were debunked by multiple health bodies — spread online.

Originally published as Injectables, weight-loss jabs: The counterfeit drugs being imported into Australia