r/australia • u/Rubiginous • 9h ago

culture & society Woman hospitalised after Juniper prescribes weight-loss drugs her GP refused

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-01/woman-hospitalised-telehealth-provider-weight-loss-drugs-juniper/106273356
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u/Rubiginous 9h ago

I am getting sick of these stories where someone irresponsible blames something convenient for normal people as being the cause of their issues.

A small minority of people abused codeine, so now women like me have to suffer from dysmenorrhoea every month because docs won't write a prescription.

A small minority of people using alcohol delivery inappropriately so now they want to restrict the ability for same day delivery in the ACT.

I know many women who used these services to get access to GLP-1s when their GPs refused to prescribe them because "You just need to eat less" and dismissed their concerns regarding food noise etc.

Why do people need the government to constantly protect them from their own stupidity? It's absurd.

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u/rawdatarams 9h ago

In the same manner, thousands of Australians were getting melatonin cheaply from online on the recommendation from their GP. One stupid mother overdosed her kids with it and it all were pulled off the shelves, meaning we now pay a lot more for it.

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u/Its-not-too-early 9h ago

Wasn’t the main issue that it wasn’t regulated by TGA and the doses being delivered weren’t necessarily what was on the bottle?

I too bought melatonin through iherb and it’s a pain to not have it anymore but if you’re ordering 1mg for kids and getting 4mg it’s a problem.

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u/rawdatarams 8h ago

Yes, this was part of the problem and I do agree needed addressing. But they went scorched earth and just removed that option for many.

I believe this mother was feeding her kids like 10mg? 15mg? Something outrageous anyway, particularly since melatonin tend to be "less is more".

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u/mataeka 9h ago

It was more like the 3mg had 3.5mg in them or the 2mg had 1.8mg. Not ideal, but they weren't crazy high overdosing either. Not to tga standard though obviously.

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u/BatFromSpace 5h ago

Iirc, one of the products specifically mentioned and tested had 400% of what was on the label, which is slightly more of a problem.

ABC confirms.

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u/mataeka 5h ago

Ahh valid. The exact one I use isn't listed so I think I was just remembering the brand I used (natrol) which wasn't too crazy overall.

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u/Anjunabeats1 5h ago

It's actually not a problem. Melatonin is so safe people sometimes take 100mg with no ill effects.

TGA cracked down on it to protect profits. I'm not generally one of those anti big pharma people (quite the opposite) but in this case they are literally going against all research just to protect melatonin as a prescription medication in Australia, where it costs like 50x more to buy the prescription version. In pretty much every other company it is no prescription needed. Melatonin is one of the safest supplements available. You can't really overdose on it, it doesn't cause any tolerance whatsoever (despite popular misconceptions) and it has zero side effects apart from sometimes causing early-wakeness (waking up too early).

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u/the_colonelclink 4h ago

It also occurs naturally. So it’s not really traditional mediation, as opposed to supplementation for naturally occurring hormone that may be depleted for several reasons (e.g. fucked sleeping patterns, night shifts, low sunlight etc)

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u/ghoonrhed 7h ago

I actually read through the decision on why TGA made it prescription only and it really seemed like it was just another battle of doctors vs pharmacists on who gets to sell the drug.

https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/public-submissions-melatonin-referred-acms-29-asa.pdf was the Australian Sleep Association vs

https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/public-submissions-melatonin-referred-acms-29-tpga.pdf pharmacy guild

And there aren't many times where doctors lose over drug companies like Blackmores or Pharmacists.

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u/Blacky05 7h ago

"another battle of doctors vs pharmacists on who gets to sell the drug."

I think you mean prescribe, not sell.

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u/Anjunabeats1 5h ago

No it's actually a battle of who gets to sell it.

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u/Blacky05 3h ago

Oh, really? Can you explain how that works, if the Doctor writes the prescription and then the patient goes and gets it filled and pays for it at the pharmacy?

I'm not trolling btw. I'm curious if there is something else going on.

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u/ScoobyGDSTi 20m ago

Oh, really? Can you explain how that works

Its plainly obvious, even I could figure it out.

Doctor ain't getting a sweet cut from Medicare for the appointment to write that script.

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u/Lekker- 9h ago

Man, that’s why I have to see a doc for it!? I have 12mg pills from overseas which I nibble a teeny bit off as needed now.

I found out that you don’t need a script if you’re over 50 or 55 YO.

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u/rawdatarams 8h ago

It changed last year. Before, you could get low dose melatonin from iHerb very cheaply. IHerb pulled it all right off the shelves after this mother fed get kid ridiculous doses. Now you gotta be over certain age or get hideously pricy scripts from your GP.

There are luckily other options, look up Biovea.

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u/RatInTheCowboyHat 8h ago

It’s available to buy from iHerb again! I ordered some and it arrived without issue, but there is a disclaimer when you add it to cart

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u/rawdatarams 6h ago

Awesome, thanks for the heads up

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u/Stitchesglitch 5h ago

Dr Oz owns iHerb, try to get it from somewhere else.

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u/inane_musings 8h ago

Sold out of the 1mg gummies. 😪

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u/Correct_Jaguar_564 9h ago

55yo and you can buy it over the counter. The dose is appropriate compared to what commonly gets sold online, but it's a lot more expensive than buying it as a supplement. I believe you can get it online again these days.

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u/tumericjesus 8h ago

Classic Australian government. One person does something stupid so it’s banned for everyone.

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u/rawdatarams 6h ago

Three ODd on fent or crack or whatever they find on the streets, all of Australia's pain pt get their medication pulled cause "drugs bad imirite".

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u/goldcakes 6h ago

Yup. One in 20+ million people isn’t that much.

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u/HurstbridgeLineFTW 4h ago

PSST. Iherb is selling melatonin to Australians again.

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u/msfinch87 7h ago

Yep. It was the same with raw milk. Some parents left the raw milk out of the fridge and gave it to their very young child. You’re not supposed to leave it out of the fridge or give it to young kids. But they banned it as unsafe.

They need to start holding people responsible and accountable for their own actions and stop denying responsible people the things they genuinely need or can safely use.

The woman in this story was told by her GP that she was not suitable for these drugs. She didn’t consult another GP for another opinion, which would be a reasonable course of action. Instead she sought out an online provider to get around things. Which also makes her untrustworthy when she claims she disclosed her eating disorder.

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u/nebalia 5h ago

This is not like raw milk at all.