UK Health Market Round-Up: Pharmacists Warn Over AI-Edited Photos for Weight-Loss Jabs

Pharmacies call for tougher weight checks as patients fake photos with AI

UK pharmacists say more people are using AI-altered photos to make themselves look heavier and qualify for weight-loss medicines such as Mounjaro and Wegovy, according to a Financial Times report on 30 October. Sehar Shahid of the National Pharmacy Association said patients who may not be clinically eligible are getting treatment this way, and that regulation needs to keep pace with the technology.

Roz Gittins, chief pharmacy officer at the General Pharmaceutical Council, criticised pharmacies that check BMI by phone or rely on uploaded photos and pre-recorded video. She said weight, height and BMI should be verified by a healthcare provider other than the pharmacy. The eating disorder charity Beat said real-time photo checks exist but not every pharmacy uses them.

The problem is not new. In January an ITV investigation got a reporter approved by three online pharmacies using edited photos, and the GPhC inspected all three. University College London estimates 1.6 million adults in Britain used GLP-1 medicines in a year, most of them buying privately online.

Retatrutide doubled the weight loss of Ozempic in a head-to-head trial

Eli Lilly said on 28 October that its experimental injection retatrutide beat Ozempic in TRANSCEND-T2D-2, a trial of 1,298 adults with type 2 diabetes. After 80 weeks, people on the 9mg and 12mg doses lost 19.5% and 20.9% of their body weight on average, compared with 9.4% on Ozempic 2mg. Both retatrutide doses lowered HbA1c, a measure of long-term blood sugar, by 2.2%, against 1.8% for Ozempic.

More people stopped retatrutide because of side effects: 4.8% on 9mg and 7.9% on 12mg, compared with 2.7% on Ozempic. These are topline results from the company and the full data have not been published. Ozempic was tested at its highest diabetes dose, which is lower than the weight-loss doses used in Wegovy.

MPs press for wider prostate screening as the minister holds the line

MPs debated a petition calling for prostate cancer screening for all high-risk men on 26 October. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the National Screening Committee's assessment relied on flawed assumptions about treatment costs and modern diagnostics. Lib Dem MP David Chadwick called for routine screening from age 50 alongside targeted checks for higher-risk men.

Labour MP Dr Peter Prinsley, a former surgeon, pointed to the limits of the PSA test, including false positives. Responding for the government, health minister Diana Johnson said the aim was to find cancers earlier without exposing men to unnecessary treatment. She confirmed that men outside a screening programme can request a PSA test through their GP after discussing the benefits and risks.

The Autumn Budget gives the NHS £190m for winter and nothing new for pharmacy

The Budget on 28 October added £190m for NHS winter pressures in England, about 0.09% of the day-to-day health budget according to one primary care analysis. A further £100m from an existing fund will go on robotic surgery. The Chancellor also promised a ringfenced prevention budget from the 2027 spending review.

GP practices, community pharmacy and the NHS pay award were not mentioned. Pharmacies' main funding change for this year, a £340m rise agreed in the spring, came before the Budget.