Recent regulatory and legal action against pharmacies illegally compounding GLP-1 weight-loss medicines has affected up to 300 000 South Africans.
Health management company, Obiflex, says with the compounded route now closed, affected patients face a tough choice; to seek out other unregulated and potentially unsafe sources, or turn to a registered, doctor-prescribed alternative that many say they cannot afford.
“There are hundreds of thousands of South Africans, wanting to go on this weight-loss journey but they just simply can’t afford the R4000 to R6000. One of the things that can happen when you buy these illicit medicines, is you literally get poisoned and end up in hospital,” says CEO of Obiflex, Shaun Barns.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has urged consumers to be cautious when purchasing weightloss medicine online and only buy from accredited pharmacies.https://t.co/L9CK5SlVPO
— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 17, 2025
He says the second issue is the dosages on the labels of the medicines.
“The dosages can be off by up to 40% so you can sometimes be taking a dose of a medicine, and when you’re using it it’s actually completely different dose, which obviously isn’t good when it comes to scheduled medicines,” he adds.
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