Ozempic in Guyana's medical spas: the unregistered GLP-1 trade

Spas, bottom-houses and suitcases

On 22 May 2024 Stabroek News reported that the diabetes drug Ozempic (semaglutide), sought worldwide for weight loss, was being dispensed in Guyana through medical spas, "bottom-houses" and a thriving suitcase trade, even though it was not registered for use in the country¹. Several medical spas advertised it for weight loss on social media; one well-known medical establishment told the paper it had stopped selling it¹. The paper also described a Trinidadian who frequently brought it back from Trinidad in his suitcase through Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri¹.

An entrepreneur who sells and administers the drug told the paper it is FDA-approved, that she had not known it needed local registration, that she bought it from a licensed distributor and that the medication is "normally transported via cold storage"¹. The reported prices were G$100,000 to G$150,000 per dose at medical spas and about G$200,000 per dose at the medical establishment, with a minimum of four doses given weekly, depending on assessment¹.

What the Food and Drug Department said

An official of the Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) told Stabroek News that Ozempic should not be imported, advertised, distributed or administered in Guyana, and the department warned that unregistered drugs in circulation would be seized¹. A month later it issued a formal alert: citing Novo Nordisk, it listed three batch numbers linked to falsified pens, said Ozempic "is not registered here", warned that hazards from injecting a fake product "could be life-threatening" and asked the public to report anyone offering it for sale². WHO had flagged falsified semaglutide batches in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States, warning that pens may contain another undeclared ingredient such as insulin³.

The regional link is real. A week before the Stabroek report, Trinidad and Tobago's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Roshan Parasram, told a parliamentary committee that 24 pharmacies had been referred to the police over unregistered or expired products, after inspections of 280 pharmacies between February 2023 and April 2024; the committee heard Ozempic was not registered there either⁴.

From Ozempic to Mounjaro

The market moved on. In April 2026 President Irfaan Ali flagged rising use of tirzepatide (Mounjaro); HGP Nightly News reported that the GA-FDD and the Medical Council were struggling to keep pace with new drugs in the private market, and cited reports of suitcase traders bringing the drug in unregulated, with a risk of counterfeit or "non-refrigerated" products⁵. The government planned an awareness campaign on self-administering treatments bought from unregulated sources⁵. In May 2026 Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said a manufacturer of Ozempic had applied to register it, that the Food and Drug Department was reviewing the submission, and that "This is not a non-prescription item; you have to get a prescription"¹³.

Demand has a social edge. In November 2025 Village Voice News reported that people were getting these drugs through prescriptions, online sources and informal sharing networks, "many without any medical oversight", and published the account of a woman who lost 25 pounds in two months on a weight-loss drug and described severe nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain: "People only see the pictures. They don't see what the drug does to you"⁶.

What Guyana's law covers

The Food and Drugs Act, Chapter 34:03, defines a drug by what it is "manufactured, sold or represented for", and "sell" includes to offer, expose or have in possession for sale and to distribute⁷. Section 4(1) makes it an offence, except as allowed by regulations, to advertise any drug to the general public as a treatment, preventive or cure for a condition in the First Schedule, which lists both Obesity and Diabetes⁷. Section 21 gives inspectors powers to enter premises, take samples and seize articles⁷. On its face, a social-media post promoting an injection for weight loss would appear to fall within section 4, unless the regulations exempt it.

What the evidence says about stopping

Semaglutide works: in STEP 1, adults with obesity lost a mean 14.9 % of body weight at 68 weeks, against 2.4 % with placebo⁹. But it is a long-term treatment. In STEP 4, participants who had reached the maintenance dose and were switched to placebo regained 6.9 % of body weight between weeks 20 and 68, while those who continued lost a further 7.9 %¹⁰. A four-dose course sold for a quick result is not how the trials used the drug. WHO's December 2025 guideline recommends GLP-1 therapies for the long-term treatment of obesity in adults, conditionally, and warns that demand "has fueled the spread of falsified and substandard products"¹². The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) added in March 2026 that using these medicines "for exclusively aesthetic purposes, without a comprehensive clinical assessment" exposes people to unnecessary risks⁸. The US label requires unused pens to be refrigerated at 2–8 °C¹¹, a condition a suitcase cannot guarantee.