Could a simple patch, inspired by the weight-loss drug Ozempic, really help you shed excess kilos without the pain and effort of an injection?

Promotions of these Ozempic-style, weight-loss patches are popping up online, promising dramatic results with little evidence to back their claims.

Personal recommendations for the patches are common. This includes from some “doctors” on social media. But independent fact checkers have shown these endorsements are AI-generated.

So, before you spend your money, here’s why you should think twice about buying a weight-loss patch.

Ozempic-style patches are also known as GLP-1 patches. But they do not contain any pharmaceutical ingredient from Ozempic (semaglutide) or related drugs such as Mounjaro (tirzepatide).

Instead, the Ozempic-style patches contain a mixture of herbal extracts including berberine, green tea (Camellia sinensis), the tropical fruit Garcinia cambogia and bitter orange (Citrus x aurantium L.).

There is some laboratory evidence that select compounds from berberine, the polyphenols........

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