"Considering Wegovy Alternatives?" Surge in Reports of Adverse Effects After Taking Health Supplements

Notably, Increase in Cases Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Reports from Those in Their 60s and Older Triple in One Year

As anti-obesity medications such as Wegovy and Mounzar have gained popularity, public interest in weight loss and health management has surged. At the same time, reports of adverse effects related to dietary health supplements for weight loss continue to rise.

Out of stock notice on the mount at a pharmacy in downtown Seoul. Yonhap News

According to data submitted by Assemblyman Lee Yangsoo of the People Power Party to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on June 26, there have been a total of 2,375 reports of adverse cases related to health supplements claiming body fat reduction functionality over the past five years (from 2020 to May 2026). A detailed breakdown by year shows: 72 cases in 2020, 57 in 2021, 85 in 2022, 217 in 2023, 717 in 2024, and 920 in 2025, indicating a sharp increase starting in 2022. In just the first half of this year, 307 cases have already been reported.

In particular, there has been a notable increase in reports from middle-aged and older adults recently. Looking at last year's reports by age, there were 279 cases among those in their 60s and above, 151 among those in their 50s, and 122 among those in their 40s. Reports from people in their 60s and older more than tripled compared to the previous year's 77 cases. Analysts attribute this trend to the growing interest in weight loss and health management among older adults, which, together with increased attention to anti-obesity drugs, has driven up demand for health supplements.

However, it should be noted that adverse case reports are filed when abnormal symptoms occur after consuming health supplements, and not all cases have a confirmed causal relationship with the products in question.

During the same period, there were 484 requests for damage relief related to diet products filed with the Korea Consumer Agency. Annual reports rose sharply from 56 cases in 2021 to 152 in 2025. Examples submitted to the Consumer Agency multiple times include: products advertised as containing Wegovy ingredients but lacking relevant information on the actual ingredient list; cases where a purchase was made after seeing an ad on social networking services (SNS) but the business operator became unreachable; and cases where consumers believed advertisements claiming "full refund if not effective," purchased the product, and were subsequently denied a refund.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.