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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Top doctor warns against using anti-obesity drugs to get ‘beach body ready’

Packages of prescription drugs Ozempic and Wegovy
Doctors have said weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, can have ‘side-effects that include death’. Photograph: Ida Marie Odgaard/EPA

People should not use anti-obesity drugs to lose unwanted weight and get “beach body ready” for the summer, the NHS’s top doctor has said.

Prof Steve Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, spoke out as evidence emerged that growing numbers of people who do not qualify medically to receive the drugs are obtaining them through online pharmacies.

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