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Impact x Nightline - Season 4 - Episode 04: Ne-Yo: My Four Girlfriends
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00:15I seriously, seriously felt like I was about to die.
00:19Then I took some last night, and I've been vomiting all morning.
00:24I'm in bed now, I'm in bits.
00:26That's when the penny drops.
00:27Girl, what the hell?
00:28Why did you just buy fake ozempic off the internet?
00:32Are you stupid?
00:33Federal officials are asking consumers to be on the alert for counterfeit ozempic.
00:38The FDA issued an alert saying counterfeits have been found in the U.S. drug supply chain.
00:42He feels fortunate to be alive today after spending the weekend in intensive care.
00:47Counterfeit weight loss drugs wreaking havoc and forcing officials to sound the alarm.
00:52Have you seen a surge in counterfeit weight loss drugs?
00:55Absolutely.
00:56Patients are willing to do anything to get their hands on this product, and they're risking their lives.
01:02It's the skinny shot that changed Hollywood.
01:06Celebs from all over using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Manjaro to lose weight.
01:11From legends like Oprah Winfrey to pop princesses like Meghan Trainor to fan-favorite reality stars like Dolores Catania.
01:20And my love just dropped, and I felt amazing.
01:23I want to take it forever.
01:25Some even openly endorsing GLP-1s with brand deals.
01:29Serena Williams partnering with Roe.
01:32GLP-1s helped me lose 31 pounds.
01:36Rebel Wilson joining Noom.
01:38Noom's microdoses of motivation and microdose GLP-1s can help.
01:42But for those without celeb salaries, the sometimes uphill battle to get name-brand GLP-1 medications can be daunting.
01:50These prices are absolutely outrageous.
01:52I just recently found out that I have been severely overpaying for my GLP-1 because my insurance won't cover
01:57it.
01:57Your GLP-1 medications could be free, or they could be like $900.
02:00And some bad actors are pouncing on that demand, creating a potentially dangerous black market of counterfeits and illicit drugs
02:09that are scamming buyers and even making some people sick.
02:12We're having seizures, frothing at the mouth, almost dying.
02:17We're going inside the illicit world of counterfeit GLP-1s.
02:22That's where the money is. That's the gold rush.
02:24How easy is it to get in contact with somebody who's either selling counterfeit or some sort of weight loss
02:31drive?
02:31Very easy.
02:32And the urgent fight to thwart them.
02:47There's something called ozempic face.
02:49I didn't get that.
02:50No, you look great.
02:51But I had a facelift.
02:52No.
02:54This is why we love you, Dolores.
02:57I had a facelift before.
02:59I lost my weight, just so you know.
03:01Dolores Catania never shies away from telling the truth, dominating reality TV, first on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
03:09You're a crazy scumbag.
03:12Scumbag.
03:13Scumbag.
03:13Welcome back, scumbag.
03:15No, Dolores.
03:16Welcome back, scumbag.
03:18And then winning traitors.
03:19I'm not a traitor because my whole life, I have been nothing but loyal and faithful to everybody.
03:25I don't know how to be anything else.
03:27Off screen, she doesn't hold back on revealing her cosmetic procedures or her weight loss secrets.
03:33There's a lot of vegetables and things.
03:34There's the medication.
03:35That's hilarious.
03:37I didn't even think about that.
03:38That is a supply that you wish you had, let me tell you.
03:42That's amazing.
03:43Proudly proclaiming she was taking GLP-1s, first Ozempic and later Monjaro.
03:49So I'm sitting on Watch What Happens Live, and I had now started with the up in my dose on
03:54Ozempic, and I'm down like 15 pounds.
03:57And Andy goes, you look great.
03:58I said, oh, I'm on Ozempic like everyone else.
04:00So, Dolores, how long have you been on the Ozempic?
04:04Six weeks.
04:05There was such shame in taking this in the beginning.
04:08Like so many, Dolores says she struggled to lose weight.
04:11So I was never that skinny girl in school.
04:14I wasn't heavy.
04:15I was voluptuous.
04:17And as I got older and I started working out, I would starve myself because I thought that's the only
04:24way to lose weight.
04:25I just never really knew how to eat.
04:27When she hit her 40s, nothing seemed to work.
04:29I would gain weight and gain weight.
04:31And then it turned out I was insulin resistant.
04:34So I was pre-diabetic.
04:35Could have been probably also from my diet and the way that I ate.
04:39I was going through menopause also, which we all know what that's like.
04:43Sadly, yes.
04:44Sadly, yes.
04:45At the advice of her doctor, she began taking a prescribed GLP-1.
04:50Ozempic and Monjaro are FDA-approved to treat type 2 diabetes, but are often used off-label for weight loss.
04:57Well, Govy and Zepbound are FDA-approved versions of these drugs for weight loss.
05:02You have to go to the right doctor and make sure that you find the right physician who's monitoring you
05:08on this.
05:09But I am all for it.
05:11Within a couple weeks, I was down, going back down in weight.
05:14I was eating less.
05:16Dolores recognizes how expensive these weight loss drugs can be and how lucky she is to be able to afford
05:21them.
05:22How big is the demand for these drugs and how much do they cost?
05:26So they're very expensive.
05:28My insurance doesn't cover it.
05:30So I spend minus $550 a month with a coupon.
05:34In the current marketplace, it can still cost as much as roughly $1,000 a month without insurance or a
05:41coupon for the name brands.
05:43What's your message for those who are thinking, I'm going to try to cut a corner and get it on
05:47the black market?
05:48I would not do that.
05:49I would definitely not do that.
05:51But some are doing just that, turning to illegal sellers online.
05:56This stuff is being offered on every social media platform.
06:00It's like putting a screen door on a submarine and the water is pouring in.
06:04It's impossible.
06:06A simple search turns out endless alleged sellers.
06:10I tried it out myself.
06:12This one says, Ozempic's for sale.
06:15These are a lot of these online GLP-1 sales.
06:19A few key phrases unlocks a dangerous dark web, allegedly peddling phozempic and other fake weight loss drugs.
06:27When you spell it correctly, nothing comes up.
06:30But when you misspell it, a lot of other sites come up.
06:35It looks like a wink-wink way that counterfeit GLP sellers are going around restrictions.
06:42It doesn't take much to scratch the surface.
06:44There's a lot of people here.
06:45It looks like you're just a click or two away from buying GLP-1s online.
06:51How easy is it to get in contact with somebody who's either selling counterfeit or some sort of weight loss
06:57drop?
06:57Very easy.
06:58Eric Feinberg works for the non-profit Coalition for a Safer Web.
07:02How do you spot a counterfeit?
07:04Because number one, when you see in the profile that it basically says no Rx.
07:10Why is that a red flag?
07:11It's a red flag because you cannot get a prescription drug unless you have a prescription.
07:16When the minute you see no prescription needed and also the payment processes like, you know, Bitcoin, Zeal, PayPal.
07:24No, it can't be.
07:26And a lot of this is coming too out of country.
07:36So I was told to take 2.5.
07:39So I was taking 2.5 for the first three times.
07:43And on the fourth time, I took actually two, not 2.5.
07:48So I actually took less, and it's still done what it did.
07:53But yeah.
07:54As soon as I took the one injection that was wrong, I knew straight away I felt sick.
08:02I was curled up in a ball.
08:04I was vomiting.
08:05Ashleen Horgan-Wallace says she believes she took counterfeit Ozempic,
08:09never imagining how these syringes could harm her as much as she says they did.
08:14I didn't do too much research.
08:17I should have really done more.
08:20I just took word of mouth from my friends.
08:24The 46-year-old British reality star has been in the spotlight for 20 years,
08:30known for her beauty and her body.
08:33Over the decades, the Big Brother UK star has made a name for herself with her flirtatiousness.
08:39I was told that I'm very good at manipulating people to do what I want.
08:43And her ferocious outbursts.
08:46It's so f***ing small, that's why you're so angry with life.
08:49Gaining fans and making millions along the way.
08:52How are you enjoying life in the public eye?
08:54I'm loving it.
08:55Because everyone's being so nice, maybe I shouldn't say that.
08:59But soon, a darker side of fame began to take root.
09:03When the paparazzi take pictures of you from all different angles, you do start to self-criticize.
09:09You can't help it.
09:10It turns you into a little bit of a narcissist about the way you look.
09:14In the last few years, Aisling says her weight ballooned in the midst of what she says was one of
09:19the lowest points of her life.
09:21I lost my best friend.
09:23He was like a brother to me.
09:24And then, literally, two months after, I lost someone that was like a nephew to me.
09:30So, it was a lot.
09:33And for the first time in my life, I started to actually, as I say, eat my feelings.
09:38I was just sad, depressed, and food was the only tonic that I could find.
09:44And I needed a quick fix.
09:47I wanted a quick fix.
09:48She says she never tried to get a prescription in the U.K., where the National Health Service is largely
09:54funded by taxpayers.
09:56I knew for a fact that I couldn't get a Zempick or any type of weight loss drugs because I
10:01wasn't morbidly obese.
10:03And they would say to me, you're not allowed it.
10:05You don't need it.
10:06Go to the gym.
10:07Change your diet.
10:09So, I didn't want to do that.
10:11So, I went to the black market.
10:12My friend found a website on the dark web, and she got a WhatsApp number from that website.
10:20It just looked like a beauty website, if anything, to buy beauty goods.
10:26And we WhatsApped this company and started to order our Zempick, or what we thought was a Zempick.
10:33She says she paid £300, about $400, for four syringes, no prescription necessary.
10:40It was sent through normal post, through the mailman.
10:43I opened the box, and it was a needle in a package, and it said a Zempick on the front
10:50of the box.
10:51To be honest, the first few injections were totally fine.
10:54My appetite was just gone.
10:57Grab some fat, and just literally just inject it.
11:01Aislein says what she thought was OZempick didn't even come in a pen, like the drug should.
11:07I've got my Diarylite here.
11:09I can't even, like I take one sip, and I'm vomiting it out.
11:13That's Aislein, so sick that she could only send voice memos to her online supplier.
11:21I'm sweating all over.
11:24That is weird as fuck, babe, trust me.
11:28At one point, I opened my eyes, and I couldn't see.
11:31Everything was blurry.
11:32I seriously, seriously felt like I was about to die.
11:37Aislein says she never went to the authorities, or even sought medical help, because she was too embarrassed.
11:43And she says she didn't want to waste resources on something she felt was self-inflicted.
11:48And experts say she's far from the only one.
11:51The number of victims likely far underreported.
11:55There is a lot of naivete, unfortunately.
11:58And there are a lot of people who really believe that this is going to be their panacea.
12:02They just don't realize that this whole underground world exists.
12:05The matter, so dire that the World Health Organization has issued warnings about fake GLP-1 medications being sold in
12:14several countries.
12:16Headlines were made in Austria after several people were hospitalized with severe low blood sugar and seizures after supposedly taking
12:24fake Ozempic.
12:25Patients who took these counterfeits, who were basically having seizures, frothing at the mouth, almost dying, then not knowing where
12:37it comes from, that's a life or death roll of the dice.
12:41This could be somebody you know, this could be a parent, a sibling, a friend of yours.
12:47That danger is what keeps Nicole Johnson up at night.
12:50She's a special agent at the Department of Homeland Security.
12:54If a consumer has no other choice, they have to buy their prescriptions online, always verify before you buy.
13:01Go to safe.pharmacy or legit scripts and check that online pharmacy to see if they're legitimate or not.
13:08Last year in New York, a Long Island woman was arrested for selling counterfeits.
13:13In Tennessee, a woman allegedly impersonated a licensed professional to sell drugs to a weight loss clinic.
13:20I would assume there are an astronomical amount of health concerns because we have no idea what's in them.
13:25At this point, we don't even know if they are what they say they are on the bottles.
13:30The most alarming breach?
13:32In less than two years, the FDA has seized thousands of units of counterfeit ozempic that made its way into
13:39the legal American supply chain.
13:41The agency advising everyone from doctors to retail pharmacies to consumers to check the numbers on their ozempic boxes
13:49and showing just how anyone could be fooled by the fake needles label compared to the real one.
13:55How big a health risk is that?
13:57I can't speak to the FDA's seizure, but the legitimate supply chain is still your safest place to buy pharmaceuticals.
14:05And yet that's a pretty big security breach of a legitimate supply chain.
14:10Correct.
14:12The FDA declined ABC News' request for an interview and in a statement said it is actively working to protect
14:19consumers from counterfeit GLP-1 medications
14:22through a multifaceted approach that includes public awareness, enforcement actions, and collaboration with other agencies.
14:30And if somebody purchases counterfeit weight loss drugs, are they in trouble?
14:34Are they committing a crime?
14:36We view patients as victims a lot of the times because we know that they may not be educated.
14:43And we really care about the transnational criminal organizations.
14:46Where do you think these drugs are coming in?
14:48The top countries that we see most are the United Kingdom, China, India, Turkey, and Mexico.
15:01When illicit drugs are shipped to the U.S., they have to go through massive ports like this one in
15:06Cincinnati.
15:09Where Customs and Border Protection officers begin sifting through hundreds of thousands of shipments at 2 o'clock in the
15:15morning.
15:17We conduct all of the exams on the shipments that we hold for inspection in this area right here.
15:23Port director Eric Zizelman oversees the seizures made here.
15:27Anything from fentanyl...
15:28It could be counterfeit watches.
15:30...to counterfeit watches to this box of marijuana.
15:34The more that we intercept shipments, the more trends tend to change.
15:39The bad guys have all the time in the world to sit around and think about how they're going to
15:43beat us.
15:44So we have to stay on top of all the intelligence that is out there.
15:48This table is full of illegal GLP-1s seized based on suspicious packaging.
15:54We've got one box, one Zempick pen here.
15:57A lot of Spanish writing on it.
15:59So something that's going to come into the U.S. as a legitimate product is not going to be in
16:04Spanish.
16:04It has to be in English.
16:06Probably meant for a South American, Central American market.
16:11At the port, they seized both black market and gray market drugs.
16:15So gray market are drugs that are typically made for a non-U.S. market and then imported here and
16:23sold here.
16:24So they're not approved to be sold inside the United States.
16:28They are approved to be sold somewhere else.
16:30Once a drug leaves its intended route, really all bets are off.
16:36You cannot vouch for the quality of that drug.
16:40How do you verify the storage conditions that drug was held in?
16:44This particular shipment, but it's clearly some sort of Asian writing.
16:48And it does have the word Ozempick written on it.
16:51It's Trulicity pen.
16:52So this says Ireland and United Kingdom on the back.
16:55This is a decent chance that this was actually gray market meant for someplace in Europe.
17:02In May alone, just over a five-day period, Zizelman and his team say they seized more than $2 million
17:09worth of illicit weight loss drugs.
17:11We have seen a big uptick in counterfeit and or gray market weight loss drugs.
17:17We went from two seizures in 2023 to over 60 seizures in 2024 calendar year.
17:22According to Zizelman, many of the seized goods are ultimately destroyed.
17:27In rare instances, some may be shipped back to where they came from.
17:31It's not just contraband weight loss drugs that are seized.
17:34CBP says almost $10 million worth of FDA banned products have been intercepted at this port alone over the past
17:42year.
17:43Counterfeit Botox, counterfeit Juvederm, counterfeit fillers, contact lenses.
17:48Anything from cigarettes to water filters, batteries.
17:51We even have counterfeit condoms and other health care items that you would never suspect.
17:56Johnson says counterfeiting is a $1 trillion market.
18:00With GLP-1s, it mimics a lot of what we saw with Viagra.
18:05There was such a demand for it that we still seize counterfeit Viagra at our ports of entry every single
18:10day.
18:10So this is just the beginning, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
18:14Exactly. As new products get on the market, they're all going to be counterfeited.
18:19If you counterfeit pharmaceuticals, the penalties you would be looking at are often a lot lower than if you're, you
18:27know, trafficking in cocaine.
18:29Catherine Eban reports on counterfeit drugs and other medical schemes for Vanity Fair.
18:34There are really no global treaties related to pharmaceutical safety and quality.
18:40You know, it can be sort of playing whack-a-mole to try to track these counterfeits as they pop
18:47up in different countries.
18:49While so many of the bad actors may be mysterious online figures, their actions can have real-life consequences.
18:56You just don't know what you're getting. It can be water. It can be alcohol. It can be insulin.
19:01And that's obviously really dangerous. You can get infections. You can get the low blood sugars. I mean, a whole
19:06host of issues.
19:08Like, when I think back, how could I have thought that this was going to be the real stuff?
19:13It came in, like, this brown box. It didn't even come in a pen.
19:16If I'd have researched properly, I'd have realised it comes in a pen.
19:21It's just stupid, mind-bogglingly stupid. I can't believe I did it.
19:26It's that one syringe. It must be. I am absolutely fucked. And I've not been on the drink. I've not
19:33been in a party or anything.
19:38Ashlyn says she couldn't leave her bed for days. She is still angry at the thought that her supplier tried
19:44to blame her.
19:45She suggested that maybe I took too much. And I explained to her that I actually took a little bit
19:52less.
19:52And then she tried to talk about the product and maybe it wasn't the product. And then that was it.
19:58I never heard from her and she never heard from me again.
20:01Her remaining syringes still in her fridge as a cautionary reminder.
20:07When illicit name-brand weight loss drugs are found, the manufacturers are often made aware.
20:16This sleepy Danish town has exploded as the epicentre of the more than $200 billion company Novo Nordisk,
20:24the makers of the ever-popular Ozempic and Wegovi.
20:28We are facing an increasing issue with counterfeit medicine. It's an industry issue and challenge.
20:35Novo Nordisk gave us a tour of their facility, showing us how they make their GLP-1 medications with the
20:42highest safety standards.
20:43Patient safety is really paramount. That's why within Novo Nordisk, we have increased our product verification capability.
20:52Ann Duvaux is Novo's head of global product security.
20:57She warns buyers beware, showing us examples of highly sophisticated counterfeits.
21:03I would like to show you a counterfeit that we have identified in multiple countries, including the U.S.
21:11And this is a pen, which is a rapid insulin pen.
21:15It's not a Novo Nordisk pen, but it has been relabeled as Ozempic.
21:19Be vigilant. Don't buy through illegitimate channels.
21:24And if you have any doubt, please check with your doctor, health agency, or Novo Nordisk directly.
21:29Companies like Novo Nordisk are also working to lower prices to help combat fakes.
21:35Counterfeit is a silent crime, and we cannot fight alone.
21:40A fight that authorities say is ever-evolving online, as AI makes fakes increasingly easier to produce.
21:49I gave them one of the images I picked up to one of the accounts, I fed it, and then
21:54I asked them all this detailed information.
21:56You ask ChatGPT, can you translate to English on the graphic? They do that.
22:00Can you translate it into Spanish? It does that.
22:03Can you do this on the package? It does that.
22:06And I take all this, and I can create an account.
22:08Because this is also write me a social media post.
22:11Yeah.
22:11It's like custom-made fraud.
22:13In a statement to ABC News, OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, pointed to its usage policies page,
22:20saying all users have a right to safety and security, and that the platform can't be used for illicit activities,
22:28goods, or services.
22:30Feinberg says legislation needs to be passed to put more guardrails on tech companies and social media platforms,
22:36where counterfeiters are reaching potential customers.
22:40Who should be held accountable for how popular these counterfeits are and how readily available they are?
22:46The accountability needs to come back to the platforms for allowing this to happen.
22:50And I think some of the accountability goes back to the manufacturers, not doing enough of brand protection like I'm
22:57doing.
22:57One of the problems in the U.S. is that the drugs here are more expensive than anywhere else in
23:03the world.
23:04That, of course, makes us a very attractive market for counterfeiters.
23:08So, to some extent, you could say that the U.S. has priced itself out of the safety market.
23:15I put, like, cow fat on my face this morning.
23:18Cow fat?
23:19Yeah.
23:19Where did she get that?
23:20From Amazon.
23:22But at least I didn't get it from the black market, eh?
23:24In London, Aisling is warning others to be wiser than she was.
23:28This is how small I went down to.
23:32Absolutely tiny.
23:34Like, I couldn't even fit my left eye in these now.
23:38It's actually crazy and really scary that I lost it in a matter of weeks.
23:44It's just madness.
23:46She says she'll probably never try a weight loss drug again, counterfeit or not, but admits some things are hard
23:54to let go.
23:55When I first got over the sickness and realised I wasn't going to die, it completely changed my attitude on
24:02weight.
24:02I was like, so what if I'm fat?
24:04I'm alive.
24:05Who cares?
24:05But a few months on, I do care again.
24:10I'm so shallow.
24:19Bye-bye.
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