Evidence review

Counterfeit Ozempic: The Confirmed Lots, and the Tell on the Pen

Two confirmed incidents. Lot PAR0362 with a serial beginning 51746517, and lot PAR1229 identified by the position of the EXP/LOT text on the pen label. Both lot numbers a

The identifiers

Both lot numbers are real. The counterfeiters reused authentic lot numbers, which is why checking the lot alone tells you nothing in either case — you need the serial number or the label geometry.

The exception that most coverage omits

What was actually counterfeit

Not just the drug. Analysis of the seized products confirmed the needles were counterfeit, so their sterility cannot be confirmed — which the FDA describes as an increased risk of infection.

Also confirmed counterfeit: the pen label, the accompanying healthcare professional and patient information, and the carton.

The FDA and Novo Nordisk have said they could not confirm the identity, quality or safety of the drug inside. That is a more serious statement than it sounds: nobody knows what was in the pen.

What has been reported so far

The FDA is aware of five adverse events from the PAR1229 lot, none serious, and all consistent with known common reactions to authentic Ozempic — nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and constipation.

That is reassuring as far as it goes, and it goes only that far. Five reports from dozens of seized units tells you about the reports, not about the contents.

Why the usual advice would not have helped

Almost every article on this subject ends with “buy from a licensed pharmacy”. In both confirmed incidents, the counterfeit product was in the legitimate United States drug supply chain. It reached patients through licensed retail pharmacies.

The advice is still correct as a baseline — it protects you from a much larger category of risk. It simply would not have protected you here, and a page that implies otherwise is giving false comfort.

The FDA's recommendation to pharmacies is more specific and more useful: purchase only through authorised distributors of the manufacturer, and compare product against the published photographs.

What to do if you think you have one

1. Do not use it. Not the drug and not the needle.
2. Check the serial number, not just the lot. For the April 2025 incident, the lot alone is authentic; it is the serial beginning 51746517 that identifies the counterfeit.
3. Check where the EXP/LOT text sits on the pen label — above the dates on an authentic pen, to the left on the December 2025 counterfeit.
4. Contact the pharmacy that dispensed it and the manufacturer. Both the FDA and Novo Nordisk have asked to hear from patients who find counterfeit product.
5. Report it to the FDA through MedWatch, its adverse event and product-problem reporting system.
6. If you have already injected it, contact a clinician. The infection risk from a non-sterile needle is a separate concern from the drug itself.

A counterfeit is not the same thing as a compounded product

These get conflated constantly and they are different categories.

A compounded vial that says it is compounded is not a counterfeit, whatever else you think of it. A pen that claims to be Ozempic and is not, is. Our page on what is actually in a compounded GLP-1 covers the separate questions that category raises.

The connected risk the FDA has flagged

Alongside its 2026 warning letters, the FDA published a GLP-1 webpage covering import alerts intended to keep active pharmaceutical ingredients with quality concerns out of the United States, counterfeit versions of brand-name GLP-1s, and adverse event reporting. The enforcement record sets out the rest.

The through-line is supply provenance. Whether the question is a counterfeit pen, an unnamed compounding pharmacy or an imported active ingredient, it is the same question: who made this, and can you check them? That is why our disclosure register asks the one question it asks.

Questions readers actually ask