Doha, Qatar: Consumers in Qatar should verify that weight-loss medicines and other therapeutic products are registered in the country and obtain them only from licensed healthcare facilities and pharmacies, a Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) official has said, amid growing interest in slimming products and injections promoted online.
Dr. Latifa Al-Khayyat from the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department at MoPH said consumers can check through the Ministry's website whether a product is licensed and registered in Qatar.
Speaking during an interview with Al Rayyan TV, she said products registered in the country undergo assessment by the competent department as well as laboratory testing before being allowed onto the market.
"The registered and licensed products in the country are the products that are safe and reliable for use," Al-Khayyat said, explaining that laboratory reports are reviewed to ensure a product meets safety and quality requirements before reaching consumers.
She urged the public not to rely on other people's experiences or products promoted through social media when purchasing medicines or therapeutic products.
Medicines should instead be obtained from licensed establishments in Qatar, including authorised pharmacies and healthcare institutions, she said.
The warning comes as weight-loss medicines and injections continue to draw considerable attention, particularly on social media, where users frequently share personal experiences and recommendations.
Al-Khayyat said consumers who have doubts about a product, even if they are not making a formal complaint, can contact the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department directly through the health sector hotline on 16000.
When should weight-loss injections be considered?
In a separate interview with Al Rayyan TV, Dr. Aisha Saqr, a specialist in therapeutic nutrition and obesity, cautioned against treating slimming injections as products that individuals can choose and use on their own.
She said treatment of obesity using such injections should involve medical assessment and, where appropriate, a multidisciplinary team that can include internal medicine or endocrinology specialists, nutrition specialists, pharmacists and laboratory professionals.
Several medical tests may also be required before treatment, including assessments related to blood glucose, liver enzymes and thyroid function, she said.
Saqr said body mass index (BMI) and the presence of obesity-related health conditions are among the factors doctors consider when determining whether pharmacological treatment is appropriate.
She pointed to conditions associated with obesity such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, fertility problems and joint conditions as factors that may form part of a patient's medical assessment.
She also cautioned against people who have used slimming injections recommending the same treatment to friends or relatives, stressing that medicines should be prescribed according to each patient's circumstances and obtained through pharmacies licensed by MoPH.
What about the trending ‘Retatrutide’ injection?
Saqr also addressed growing attention surrounding Retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss injection that has attracted interest because of results from clinical trials.
Retatrutide is a once-weekly investigational medicine being developed by Eli Lilly. Unlike medicines targeting one or two hormone pathways, retatrutide is a triple receptor agonist acting on GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptors.
Recent Phase 3 results have intensified interest in the drug.
In May, Lilly reported that participants receiving the highest studied dose in its TRIUMPH-1 Phase 3 obesity trial lost an average 28.3 percent of their body weight after 80 weeks. Among participants with an initial BMI of at least 35 who continued into an extension, average weight loss reached 30.3 percent at 104 weeks.
Further Phase 3 results announced in July showed average weight reductions of up to 20.8 percent after 80 weeks among adults with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes, and up to 22.6 percent among participants with severe obesity and established cardiovascular disease, with or without type 2 diabetes.
Despite those results, retatrutide has not been approved by any regulatory authority and is not currently available for public use, according to Lilly. The company says the drug remains investigational and should only be used by participants enrolled in its clinical trials.
Lilly has also warned against products being sold outside clinical trials under the retatrutide name, saying such products may contain unknown ingredients, contaminants, incorrect quantities of active ingredients or entirely different substances.
Saqr similarly warned against obtaining weight-loss injections abroad or through unofficial sellers, saying high demand and the cost of such products have created opportunities for counterfeit or unreliable medicines.
She advised consumers to wait for medicines to undergo the required regulatory process in Qatar rather than attempting to obtain new treatments independently from overseas.
Qatar's MoPH regulations also place controls on medicines brought into the country. Ministry guidance states that when certain medicines are unavailable locally, their provision may require approval from the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department, while the release of medicines in injectable form under the relevant rules is subject to supervision by a local healthcare facility.
For consumers considering weight-loss treatments, both specialists stressed the same principle: medicines should not be selected on the basis of social-media promotion, personal recommendations or the desire to try the newest treatment, but through licensed channels and appropriate medical assessment.
