Ozempic Lawsuit: For any medication that gains a popular status, there is a counterfeit available in the market. Similar happened with Ozempic, a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, as a result, an Iowa pharmacy company, which is already involved in multi-million dollar lawsuit is now facing additional sanctions for distributing counterfeit Ozempic. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy announced disciplinary actions against SmartScripts.Did The Pharmacy Intentionally Sell Counterfeit Ozempic?As per the reports, the timeline could be dated back to November 2023, when SmartScirpts placed an order with wholesale supplier Pharma Pac for a single case of Ozempic, which would contain 1,260 Ozempic pens. Each pen was designed to administer 4 milligrams of medications. The problem arose when SmartScripts received 15 cases of medications, instead of a single one, ordered initially. Todd Thompson, who is the company owner went to ship the excess inventory to Central Pharma Management in Lansing, Michigan, which distributed the product among different pharmacies.While all this seems too simple, the problem arose when Pharma Pac contacted Thompson for payment of the 15 cases. Thompson's response to this was: quarantining the remaining Ozempic and advising the recipient pharmacies to halt the sales of the products. Though there was no such reason mentioned in the regulatory documents for any such precautionary measures. So, why did Thompson asked the companies to put the sales on hold? The question arises: did he know that the Ozempic was a counterfeit product?ALSO READ: This Naturally Occurring Molecule May Have Ozempic-like Benefits Without The Side Effects Reporting Counterfeit ProductsAs per reports and state regulators, Thompson became aware about the counterfeit Ozempic on December 21, 2023, however, he did not notify the Iowa Board of Pharmacy until July 2024. This delayed reporting played a prominent role when disciplinary charges were filed against SmartScripts in January 2025. Thompson, however, claims that he learned about the counterfeit drugs only after he had received a notification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after he sold the products to Central Pharmacy Management. According to him, immediate action was taken to contact the purchasing pharmacy. He says that instead of being a participant in fraudulent activities, his company is among those over 100 pharmacies nationwide that fell victim to similar drug counterfeit schemes. What Happens When You Consume Counterfeit Ozempic?FDA on April 14, 2025, released an advisory against counterfeit Ozempic. The advisory reads: "FDA was notified by Novo Nordisk on April 3, 2025, that several hundred units of counterfeit Ozempic (semaglutide) injection 1mg were in the U.S. drug supply chain. The counterfeit products were distributed outside the Novo Nordisk authorized supply chain in the U.S. FDA seized the identified counterfeit products on April 9, 2025.READ: Weight Loss Drugs Like Ozempic, Mounjaro And Wegovy Under Scrutiny After Deaths And Pancreatitis Reports in UKThe agency advises patients, wholesalers, retail pharmacies and health care professionals to check the Ozempic products they have received and not use, distribute or sell products labeled with lot number PAR0362 and serial number starting with the first eight digits 51746517."
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