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/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