Current Events in August 2024

Budgeting for back to school costs involves more than shopping for a backpack and notebooks. Don’t forget the cost of school lunches, which rose sharply over the last two years of inflation.

Fortunately, many of these food costs have declined since last year. Datasembly, which monitors thousands of grocery prices in real-time, reports the overall cost of 12 popular items rose just 61 cents since last year, or 1.16%.

But five of the food items have gone down in price. The biggest decline is in the price of mozzarella string cheese, which is down 4.2% from 2023.

Most items rose or fell by only a few cents. However, applesauce cups and mixed fruit snacks posted the largest price increases. The price of a six-pack of 4 oz. applesauce cuts rose 7.2% and the price of a mixed fruit snack 10-pack is up 7.3%.

While there has been no shortage of Ozempic-related scams, a new study is exploring other risks consumers face when ordering weight loss drugs online. 

Based on findings from the report that was recently published in JAMA, nearly 43% of all online pharmacies selling weight loss drugs were illegal operations. 

“This qualitative study found that semaglutide products are actively being sold without prescriptions by illegal online pharmacies, with vendors shipping unregistered and falsified products,” the researchers wrote. 

Know the risks

For the study, the researchers searched through both Google and Bing for websites that advertised weight loss drugs without prescriptions in the summer of 2023. 

Once they narrowed down those sites, the researchers purchased semaglutide samples and put them to the test. They tested the products for active ingredients, sterility, as well as authenticity.

The team compared the products they received with the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s visual inspection checklist to determine if the packaging of the samples they received matched the name-brand packaging. 

While nearly 320 online pharmacies popped up in the initial search, 134 sites were found to be illegal pharmacies. This translates to over 42% of sites turning out to be illegitimate. 

The researchers went on to purchase six semaglutide samples, only half of which were delivered. The remaining three samples ended up being scam sites, where the vendors reached out to the researchers looking for more money before shipment. 

Packaging and ingredient issues

When looking into the samples that showed up, the researchers identified issues with both the packaging and the ingredients. Not only were there errors in the labeling and authorization on the packaging, but the amount of semaglutide in each of the samples far exceeded the amount on the label. 

The samples contained nearly 40% more semaglutide than was advertised on the packaging. Taking too much of the drugs can have adverse effects on consumers’ health and wellness. 

This study highlights the importance of consumers receiving prescriptions from trusted medical professionals – not from advertisements they come across online.