Ozempic on Instagram: Jamaica's unregistered GLP-1 problem

Ozempic sold on Instagram in Jamaica

In Jamaica, the most famous GLP-1 drug is being sold where no pharmacist can see it. Speaking at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce's first Anti-Illicit Trade Forum in Kingston on 30 April 2025, the Chair of the Pharmacy Council of Jamaica, Dr Ernestine Watson, cited Ozempic, used for weight loss, as one of several drugs being sold locally without the required approvals¹. Her description of how the trade works was blunt.

The sellers are hard to pin down, she said: "I don't know how they realise who is calling or who is contacting them, because after the second call, the site goes away"¹. Caribbean National Weekly, reporting on the same forum, said she warned that such drugs are often unregistered or not approved for distribution in Jamaica, and that consumers must be "very vigilant and do our own research"². Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Anthony McLaughlin, head of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Branch, told the forum that he had seen medical-grade saline being sold in a downtown Kingston market and that counterfeit tablets can be very difficult to tell from genuine ones¹².

"DM to order": the Health Minister's warning

Nine months later the warning came from the top. In a January 2026 column, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, described a social media post someone had brought to his attention: it "showed a photo of the medication laid out on someone's bed, with a simple caption: 'DM to order'." His point was simple: "These are not supplements." He wrote that GLP-1 drugs are prescription medicines that need assessment, blood work, screening for contraindications and monitoring, and that regulators have warned about counterfeit and compounded semaglutide sold illegally online³. He also noted that off-label use has contributed to shortages for diabetic patients who rely on these medicines³.

What the Food and Drugs Regulations say

Jamaica's rules on this are old but clear. Under the Food and Drugs Regulations, 1975, "a person shall not sell, manufacture, import or distribute a drug unless" it has been registered with the Ministry of Health (regulation 40(1))⁵. Importing a drug requires the Minister's permission (regulation 43)⁵. Drugs on the prescription-only List 4 may be retailed only "on or in accordance with a prescription from a practitioner", and "a person shall not advertise any List 4 Drugs to the general public" (regulation 50)⁵. More broadly, no drug may be advertised at all without the Minister's prior written approval (regulation 4)⁵.

The Food and Drugs Act adds a ban on advertising any drug to the public for the treatment, prevention or cure of the diseases in its First Schedule, a list that includes diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases (section 3)⁶. Contravening section 3 is an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine of up to one million dollars or up to twelve months in prison (section 25); penalties set in regulations made under the Act are capped at the same maximum (section 28), and directors of a company that commits the offence can be held liable too (section 26)⁶. Separately, the Pharmacy Act allows drugs to be dispensed or retailed only on registered pharmacy premises by a registered pharmacist, subject to the exemptions in section 19 (section 18)⁷. The Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica has reminded the public that every place selling prescription drugs must be registered with the Pharmacy Council, renewed every year, and that patients may ask to see the licence of the pharmacy and the pharmacist⁴.

Why falsified semaglutide is the real risk

The danger of a pen bought through Instagram direct messages is less the molecule than what may actually be inside it. In June 2024 the World Health Organization (WHO) issued Medical Product Alert N°2/2024 on three falsified Ozempic batches detected in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States, supplied in the regulated supply chain; one carried a genuine batch number on a falsified product⁹. The WHO said its surveillance system "has been observing increased reports on falsified semaglutide products in all geographical regions since 2022", and warned that fakes can lack the active ingredient or contain an undeclared one such as insulin⁸. Its advice was to "avoid buying medicines from unfamiliar or unverified sources, such as those that may be found online"⁸.

Jamaica is not alone in the Caribbean. In June 2026 Saint Lucia's Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition warned residents about GLP-1 medicines "such as Ozempic" and said that "obtaining medications from unauthorised sources presents significant risks"¹⁰. Dr Watson told the Kingston forum about patients harmed by counterfeit medicines, including a kidney failure patient treated for weeks with an anaemia drug that turned out to be fake¹².

What Jamaican physicians can do

Patients who buy online are often patients who could not get, or could not afford, the drug through a clinic and pharmacy. For physicians the practical steps follow from the law: prescribe GLP-1 drugs on a proper prescription filled at a registered pharmacy⁵⁷, ask patients directly where their pens come from, and report unexpected reactions to new drugs to the Minister as regulation 70 requires⁵. The Minister's column makes the clinical case for doing this inside the system: these drugs need assessment and monitoring, not a direct message³.