Pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have issued a serious warning to pharmacies filling prescriptions for Ozempic 1 mg injections, as well as to patients who use the medication.
Novo Nordisk raised the alarm for the federal organization earlier this month, reporting there are at least “several hundred units” of counterfeit Ozempic that have made it into the supply chain.
The FDA seized an unknown quantity of the counterfeit prescription drugs on April 9, 2025. The seized products are marked by the lot number PAR0362—which is a legitimate lot number—and serial numbers beginning with the first eight digits51746517—which are not legitimate numbers. If products in your possession feature lot number PAR0362 and do not feature a serial number beginning with 51746517, the manufacturer said they are safe to use.
Novo Nordisk warned retailers to purchase the medication through authorized distributors only, while consumers were encouraged to use genuine pharmacies.
“If a prescription is filled via a legitimate retailer who uses our authorized distributors, Novo Nordisk believes the risk of receiving counterfeit medicine is minimized,” the manufacturer said.
It’s unclear how or where the unapproved products made it into the supply chain, nor are the contents of the counterfeit products known. The manufacturer set to test the quality of the recovered product to weigh the potential “safety risk” to anyone who uses it, but Novo Nordisk is still advising pharmacies and patients alike to check their stock before use.
