Ms. Harris, 65, who has lost nearly 10 stone on Mounjaro (a weekly jab that can help people shed up to 20% of their body weight over time), says she went to a GP to get her prescribed dosage, to ensure all the correct medical checks were done.
Mounjaro is currently only available on the NHS for those who are older than 18 and who meet strict criteria – they need to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or higher and four or more weight-related health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and obstructive sleep apnoea.
Ms Harris had private treatment after increasingly struggling to walk around her constituency and believes others opting to take weight-loss drugs should do so for health-related reasons.
“I started having difficulty [walking in Swansea]and had to stop a quarter of the way in,” she said.
Also, a factor for her to take the jabs would be after “relentless criticism” about her appearance from online trolls that would take a toll on her everyday working life.
“I felt how I looked or what I was wearing had become more important than my politics,” continued Ms Harris.
“I can be bolshie if I’m fighting for a cause or for someone else, but deep down I’m very sensitive.”
After 14 months on the medication, Carolyn says it has changed her life.
“I’m physically fitter, I have more energy, and I think better, which sounds weird, but I do because I don’t get tired so easily.
“I used to get a lot of aches and pains, and I don’t get the aches and pains now. Before, if I had to walk for long distances, I’d be filled with dread.”
The National Pharmacy Association recently voiced concerns about the surge in demand for the likes of Mounjaro or Ozempic and how people were turning to beauty salons or social media to get them.
In England, anyone prescribing weight-loss injections must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.
But in Wales, only doctors are required to register with the Welsh equivalent, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW), meaning other healthcare professionals are not legally required to meet the same standards or be routinely inspected.
Some experts have described this as inadequate regulation, opening up an unsafe black market for such products.
“The people who elect to get these drugs from unlicensed places are playing Russian roulette with their lives,” she added.
“They don’t know what they might be injecting into themselves and that terrifies me.
“I made sure I went to a GP to get mine, rather than just going online, because I really wanted to make sure all the correct medical checks were done.”
Ms Harris said she has never spent more than £150 a month on her private prescription, but, like many of the 750,000 people in the UK who are thought to be using Mounjaro, she now faces paying hundreds of pounds extra a month. Her 15mg dose is increasing to £429 a month.
She has written to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to ask for help for those who cannot afford the weight-loss jab.
In the letter, Ms Harris said the impact of the price rise was of “huge concern” and called on him to work with the manufacturers to “keep the cost for patients at, or near, the current level”. It would also “keep the NHS waiting list at a lower level,” she claimed.
In the letter, she explained the drug could be life-saving and save the NHS millions, with obesity currently costing the NHS £107bn each year.
It comes as thousands of NHS patients who could benefit from the weight-loss jab Mounjaro are missing out due to funding issues.
The Welsh government states that weight-loss treatments such as Mounjaro are prescription-only and should only be obtained and used in accordance with a prescription from a registered and appropriately trained healthcare professional.
“No one should purchase prescription only medicines other than from reputable suppliers such as registered pharmacies. Medicines obtained from unregulated sources pose a major risk to people’s safety.
“Healthcare professionals prescribing weight-loss treatments must act in accordance with the standards set by the respective professional regulatory bodies.”
Speaking on behalf of the British Medical Association (BMA) Dr Gareth Oelmann said:
“GLP-1 weight loss injections, and Mounjaro is just one of them, is a promising development for obesity management.
“But safe prescribing, clear commissioning, and robust patient safeguards must come as part and parcel of that wider rollout.”
