Michelle Sword, 47, thought she was making a simple decision when she ordered a weight loss injection she believed was Ozempic through a Facebook ad. She had used a legitimate semaglutide product years earlier and remembered how quickly it helped her drop the weight she gained during a difficult period in her life. This time, she was trying to regain control after old habits crept back in and the scale climbed again. What arrived at her door looked convincing enough, but it was anything but safe.
Sword first turned to weight loss injections in 2020 after the end of her 20 year marriage left her stressed and heavier than she wanted to be. She bought her first semaglutide injection from a legitimate online pharmacy and saw results fast. Within about three months, she was back to roughly 110 pounds and wearing a European size 36 again. After she stopped, she maintained her weight with exercise and healthier eating for quite a while.
By the summer of 2023, things shifted and she blamed the slide on menopause and slipping back into poor food choices. She also started drinking a glass of wine with meals more often, and the weight returned. At 5 feet 2 inches tall, she felt the gain quickly, and by September 2023 she said she was panicked and looking for the same kind of injection that had helped before. She was around 148 pounds and wearing a European size 38 to 40, and the promise of a quick fix felt tempting.
On social media she found a company advertising the injections, and the ad kept appearing in her feed. She paid 175 euros through PayPal, which is about $206.47 using the European Central Bank reference rate for February 5, 2026. Two days later, the package arrived, and she injected herself expecting the familiar medication. About 20 minutes later, she lost consciousness.
What happened next is the part that still chills her because the outcome depended on pure timing. Her 15 year old daughter unexpectedly came home early before heading to her father’s house and found her. The teenager called a family friend, who then called emergency services. Sword was rushed to the hospital, where doctors fought to stabilize her as her blood sugar plunged.
Her glucose dropped to 0.2 mmol/L, which is about 3.6 mg per deciliter, a level that can quickly become fatal. Doctors discovered the injection did not contain semaglutide at all, but rapid acting insulin used to treat diabetes. Sword fell into a diabetic coma and remained in the hospital overnight until her blood sugar stabilized. After she survived, she promised herself that she was done, saying, “I will never touch injections again.”
Now she says she wants to make sure no one else repeats what she did, especially people who are vulnerable to slick advertising and desperate for quick results. She has stayed away from weight loss injections entirely since then and says she is now at a healthy size 38. She shared her story publicly to help others recognize counterfeits and to push people toward safer medical routes instead of social media sellers. She summed up her warning bluntly with, “Being thin is not worth dying for.”
Her experience is happening alongside a wider surge of counterfeit weight loss products circulating online. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, known as the MHRA, reported that more than 6,500 counterfeit injections were seized in the United Kingdom in a little over two years. Sword argued that the ecosystem around these ads makes the problem worse, saying, “It is absolutely disgusting that there are people who feed off others’ insecurities.” She also criticized the way scams spread, adding, “It does not help that social media platforms support these fraudsters through ads and links to websites.”
Sword pointed to several warning signs she wishes she had taken seriously. One was that there was no real screening before purchase, like a consultation or a health review, even though regulated weight loss drugs typically require a prescription. She also said paying through PayPal should have raised alarms because legitimate providers usually use more formal, traceable ordering systems rather than quick online transactions. When the package arrived, the instructions were in a foreign language and included spelling mistakes, which is another clue she now urges people to watch for. She believes those details can help others pause before taking a dangerous step.
A pharmacist named Ahsan Bhatti also cautioned that counterfeit injections can carry serious health risks, even when the packaging looks believable. He stressed that trying to save money or bypass eligibility rules can lead to devastating consequences. His advice was direct and simple, saying, “The only safe way is ordering medicines from registered, regulated pharmacy providers.” He added another clear rule for anyone tempted by ads, saying, “Under no circumstances should you trust injections sold on various unverified websites.”
For readers who are new to the Ozempic conversation, semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and it belongs to a class of medications called GLP 1 receptor agonists. These drugs were developed for type 2 diabetes and later became widely discussed for weight loss because they can reduce appetite and help people eat less. They are powerful medications with real side effects, and they are meant to be prescribed and monitored by clinicians, especially for people with other health conditions. Insulin, which Sword accidentally injected, is also a powerful medication and taking it when you do not need it can cause severe hypoglycemia, seizures, coma, and death.
If you have come across weight loss drug ads on social media or have questions about how to spot counterfeit products, share your thoughts in the comments.
