Weight-loss jabs users could be left facing enormous bills by failing to declare they’re taking them when they go abroad.
Once aimed at diabetes patients, drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro are prescribed on the NHS for people with obesity — and interest among slim people about their potential weight-loss benefits has led to a surge in demand for them privately too.
Yet, according to travel insurance experts, a growing number of Britons could risk breaching their travel insurance contracts, having the policies cancelled completely and being left to pay huge medical bills.
Many patients, they say, don’t want to admit they are taking the weight-loss drugs or believe that because they are a healthy weight, the injections don’t need to be declared.
Others think that if they buy them privately — often online — it doesn’t count as a medical condition.
What’s more experts have warned that many users aren’t aware of potentially deadly risks including seizures and even kidney failure.
Niraj Mamtora, director at Forum Insurance, told MailOnline: ‘If you’re using these drugs, you must declare both the medication and the condition it’s prescribed for.
‘Failure to do so is not a minor oversight, it’s a serious breach of your travel insurance contract.
‘If you need medical help overseas and haven’t fully declared the medication you’re taking, your claim can be refused and your policy cancelled. The financial consequences can be severe.
‘Travellers don’t realise they’re not covered until the critical moment they need to claim.’
Meanwhile, Reena Sewraz, a retail expert at Which? Money, told MailOnline: ‘Always read the policy wording carefully, and if you’re ever in any doubt about what you need to put on your application, ring your insurer and check.
‘It’s always advisable to shop around, but if you’re worried about a medication or condition pushing your policy price up, it’s all the more important.’
Declaring pre-existing health conditions and exactly what medication patients are taking ensures that providers can assess whether they are able to meet their needs for medical care and provide adequate cover.
Insurers use this information to calculate the likelihood of a claim on their travel insurance policy which can affect how much they charge.
Now British slimmers are warning on social media forums against falling into the trap.
In one Reddit thread titled ‘Travel Insurance — Beware’, a user said: ‘I spoke to several companies to ask if I need to declare Mounjaro now that I have a healthy BMI and am no longer obese. The answer is yes.
‘It added £80 to the policy. Insurance companies are not skipping a beat.’
‘Even though I haven’t had any side effects in 13 months and could even be off the meds by the time we travel, they want to know the last two years of medical history otherwise it would invalidate the policy.’
A second wrote: ‘If you don’t declare Mounjaro and end up in hospital, even for an unrelated reason, your entire health insurance could be cancelled and you could be looking at a six-figure bill.’
In a separate MumsNet forum, another user said they had ‘mentioned Mounjaro in passing’ on the phone to their insurer when they were checking the policy and were now no longer covered.
‘I’ve just spoken to mine, mentioned Mounjaro in passing and they’ve refused point-blank to cover me. At all. This is a company I’ve been with all year,’ they wrote.
‘They said that unless I’ve been prescribed it by a GP for a medical condition I’m not covered. This is mad.’
Another responded: ‘You need to tell them it has been prescribed to you by a General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) registered pharmacy to treat obesity.
‘They won’t cover you if they think you are taking shady black market medication.’
It comes as health officials have repeatedly urged Britons who are not eligible for the prescription jabs not to use them as a ‘quick fix’ to get ‘beach-body ready’.
Last year, England’s top doctor Professor Sir Stephen Powis warned that the powerful drugs are only designed to help diabetics and the obese and shouldn’t be abused by holidaymakers.
In October, health secretary Wes Streeting also cautioned the injections should only be used by obese people who have failed to shift weight through diet and exercise—not those looking to ‘get a body-beautiful picture for Instagram’.
But experts have now also told MailOnline eligible patients should not start the medication in the days or weeks leading up to their trip ‘at a time when they should be enjoying themselves’.
Professor Alex Miras, an expert in endocrinology at Ulster University, told MailOnline jet-setting Britons newly on the jabs may be putting themselves at risk of dehydration in warmer climates, as they can cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea which may be more pronounced early on.
Dehydration is a potentially deadly condition where the body loses more fluid than a person takes in from drinking.
It typically causes headaches and dizziness but if not treated quickly can even lead to seizures, kidney failure or prove fatal.
Semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, ‘should also be kept in the fridge as they are not meant to be left in room temperatures over 30 degrees celsius,’ he added.
But other drug specialists also warned patients against NOT taking the injections with them on holiday.
‘Categorically do not do this,’ Dr Nerys Astbury, a diet and obesity expert at the University of Oxford, told MailOnline.
‘The dosages are specifically adjusted to the patient so it may take several weeks or even months to get to the ideal dose.
‘This process would need to be initiated again if medications are ceased and re-started.
‘Weight regain when stopping weight loss injections is also rapid.
‘This may be particularly noticeable if you are on holiday where you may be eating and drink more than you usually would at home.’
Dr Foteini Kavvoura, a consultant endocrinologist at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, also said: ‘If people stop it for two to four weeks or longer, they may also need to go down a dose.
‘It’s important to also remember patients cannot put the drugs in hold luggage due to concerns about the temperature. They need to be carrying it in the carry on luggage.’
At least half a million NHS patients and some 15 million patients in the US are now thought to be using weight-loss jabs, which can help patients lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight in just a few months.
And the numbers using them privately are even higher.
The health service currently prescribes Wegovy to around 35,000 patients at specialist weight management clinics.
Mounjaro, meanwhile, has been available in similar clinics since March and as of this month, GPs are also able to prescribe it.
UK law forbids the sale of such drugs without a prescription from a medical professional.
