DESPERATE slimmers are making six-hour round trips to Northern Ireland to buy fat jabs in a so-called “Mounjaro stampede”, we can reveal.
Over the past month, pharmacies near the border have been besieged by patients from the Republic of Ireland, where a single pen can cost £148 more than it does in the UK.
Fat jabs sell for £350 for 15mg in Northern Ireland[/caption]
The price for the same dosage in Dublin is £498[/caption]
A Sun on Sunday probe has found that three-quarters of Mounjaro customers getting their monthly supply from one chemist in Newry — a city previously known for cigarette, booze and petrol smuggling — have come from the south, where 60 per cent of the population is overweight.
Delivery drivers have reported their vans being piled high with jabs to meet the surge.
Panic erupted last month as sales of the drug were paused in the UK to stop pharmacies hoarding it ahead of a 170 per cent price hike.
‘Money well spent’
The manager at McNally’s Pharmacy and Weight Loss Clinic in Newry, Northern Ireland, who gave his name only as Alan, took on a second pharmacist to handle the clamour for cheaper injections.
He told the Financial Times: “We had a stampede. I had one 6ft high industrial medical fridge and I had to buy seven others to get the stock in before the price increase. We sold out in a fortnight.”
Meanwhile, at McKeevers Pharmacy and Weight Loss Clinic across the road, scores of people queue weekly to buy their jabs in euros — the Republic of Ireland currency.
Boss Lindsay said other weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy are available, but have been less popular as prices are similar to the south.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “The Mounjaro rush started in April. It’s a big part of our trade now.
“Wages are better down south and most of the customers we serve are working-class people from Dublin.
“I would say that about three- quarters of our Mounjaro customers are from the Republic of Ireland.
“They need a prescription from their doctor, but we can accept prescriptions from across the EU, so that’s not a problem.
“It costs about £200 a month to buy Mounjaro, but that’s money well spent when you consider this is a drug that is literally changing lives.”
The high cost of prescription drugs in Ireland, which is still part of the EU, is forcing residents to head across the UK border to Northern Ireland to buy in bulk.
Despite being manufactured in Ireland, Mounjaro retails at about £209 (€240) for the lowest 2.5mg dose, rising to as much as £498 (€570) for the highest 15mg jab.
Sales tax is a key reason for the price difference.
Save a small fortune
While there is no VAT on licensed oral medicines in the Republic, injectables are subject to a 23 per cent sales tax.
By contrast, Mounjaro costs between £165 and £350 in Northern Ireland.
This means that even after petrol and toll charge expenses are taken into consideration, users can save a small fortune by making the trip.
Jennifer Grant is assistant manager at Seasons Coffee And Studio in Newry, which is five miles from the border and lies in both County Down and County Armagh.
She recently served a man in his fifties who had spent three hours travelling more than 150 miles from Woodford, County Galway, to bulk buy fat jabs for himself and his neighbours — before driving another three hours home.
Anne-Marie says customers want jabs not booze[/caption]
Republic of Ireland national Aisling McMahon fancied trying fat jabs for the lower price[/caption]
Pharmacies near the border have been besieged by fat jab patients from the Republic of Ireland[/caption]
Jennifer, 42, said: “This was just before the price rise came into effect. He told me he was going to all the McKeevers’ pharmacies in Newry to buy up jabs.
“He said it was so much cheaper to get them here, that it was well worth spending all day on the road.”
Military checkpoints were axed along the UK—Irish border after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, allowing people from both sides to travel freely back and forth.
There are no laws against transporting prescription jabs with them.
Demand for Mounjaro went through the roof when US pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly announced it was raising the UK price from September 1 in response to US President Donald Trump demanding a crackdown on “foreign freeloaders” paying less than consumers in the States.
Mum-of-two Emma Morgan, 36, is a finance manager who moved from Dublin to Newry with her husband to take advantage of the more affordable house prices.
She said: “It used to be that people would travel here for cheaper dental treatment, but now it’s weight loss injections. They are cheaper than hiring a personal trainer and get better results.”
People will do what they can to get them at the best price. I have a friend who buys them on the black market from a lady in a car park
Anne-Marie Smith
Anne-Marie Smith, manager of the WineFlair store in Newry, did a roaring cross-border trade until alcohol duty was raised at the last Budget.
She said of the downturn: “People are more interested in spending money on skinny jabs.”
Republic of Ireland national Aisling McMahon fancied trying fat jabs for the lower price.
The mum-of-two, 39, from Dublin, said: “People will do what they can to get them at the best price. I have a friend who buys them on the black market from a lady in a car park.”
But it’s not just weight-loss injections that cost less in Northern Ireland. Pals Sonya Thornton, 50, and Sabrina Murphy, 48, travelled 15 miles from Dundalk in Ireland to buy cheaper groceries.
A spokesman for Northern Ireland’s Department of Health said: “Prescriptions issued in an EEA member state can lawfully be dispensed in the UK as a private transaction if the prescriber is practising in a profession recognised by the UK in relation to that country.
“Pricing for such private transactions is a matter for individual pharmacies and product manufacturers.”
YOUR GUIDE TO SLIMMING AIDS
Ozempic
Ozempic was launched in 2017 and is a weekly injection[/caption]
Injection, weekly
Launched: 2017
Weight loss: 15lbs over 12 weeks
Private cost: From £139 per month
Pros: Causes less nausea in trials than Wegovy
Dangers: Still experimental
Mounjaro
Injection, once a week
Launched: 2024 Weight loss: 2.2lbs per week
Private cost: £300 a month, highest dose
Pros: Better blood sugar/heart health
Dangers: Gallstones, wind
Wegovy
Wegovy may cut stroke and heart attack risk[/caption]
Injection, once a week
Launched: 2023 Weight loss: 1lb per week
Private cost: £109 to £225
Pros: May cut stroke/heart attack risk
Dangers: Gallstones, pancreatitis
Mysimba
Tablet, up to four times a day
Launched: 2014
Weight loss: 10-13lbs over 56 weeks Private cost: £100 per month Pros: Works on hunger signals in brain
Dangers: Mood swings, insomnia
Saxenda
Daily injection
Launched: 2017
Weight loss: 20lbs over six months
Private cost: £55 per pen, lasts up to 17 days
Pros: Increased fat burning
Dangers: Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting
Alli
Alli is a tablet taken up to three times a day[/caption]
Tablet, up to three times a day
Launched: 2009
Weight loss: 5-10lbs in six months
Private cost: £39.99 for 84 capsules
Pros: Improved cholesterol levels
Dangers: Diarrhoea, flatulence
effects
Orforglipron
Orforglipron can cause kidney issues[/caption]
Tablet, one a day
Launch: 2026
Weight loss: 27lbs over 72 weeks
Private cost: TBC, cheaper to make than some others
Pros: GLP-1 med
Dangers: Constipation, racing heart, kidney issues
Retatrutide
Retatrutide is pending approval and may be available in 2027[/caption]
Injection, weekly
Launched: Pending approval, possibly 2027
Weight loss: 60lbs over 48 weeks
Private cost: May exceed £350 a month.
Pros: Big losses, may fight fatty liver
Dangers: Safety unknown
