Getz Pharma’s Tirzee is flying off clinic shelves ahead of wedding season. Patients buying it get very different advice depending on which doctor they see.
Imran Malik – MEDIABITES
Walk into almost any clinic in Pakistan’s middle- or upper-middle-class neighborhoods right now, and your doctor will likely mention Tirzee before you leave. It does not matter whether you came in for sugar, liver, or a routine checkup. The pitch is consistent: one injection a week, lose weight, reverse diabetes, look great for the wedding season.
The injection in question is Tirzee, manufactured by Getz Pharma, containing tirzepatide, a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist. It is a prescription-only, once-weekly subcutaneous medication approved for type 2 diabetes management, chronic weight loss in obese adults, and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea. It is also, conveniently, available in the small in-house pharmacy attached to the clinic that just recommended it to you.
One patient, three doctors, three different answers
A Tirzee user recently shared his experience, and it reads less like a medical journey and more like a choose-your-own-adventure where his health is at stake.
His first doctor, a diabetes and liver specialist, enthusiastically recommended Tirzee. Weight loss, diabetes reversal, the works. No multivitamins were suggested. No dietary guidance beyond the prescription itself. He started on 2.5mg injections and lost approximately 3 kilograms in the first two weeks, without walking or exercising.
He then consulted a dietician. She told him multivitamins were essential: Surbex-Z in the morning, B12 in the afternoon, magnesium at night. She also suggested he consider switching to Wegovy, an international brand with a similar mechanism and comparable cost.
Confused, he went to a third doctor, who told him the opposite: no need for multivitamins; take Glucophage morning and evening instead.
Three consultations. Three contradictory protocols. One patient left angry, confused and questioning whether the doctors recommending Tirzee actually know what should accompany it.
The commission question
The pattern emerging across Pakistan’s private clinics raises a legitimate concern. Tirzee is an expensive injection. Clinics that stock it in-house earn directly from each sale. When the same doctor who prescribes the injection also sells it from his clinic pharmacy, the incentive structure is worth examining.
This is not unique to Tirzee. In-clinic pharmacy commissions are well documented in Pakistan’s private healthcare market. But the speed and scale at which Tirzee has spread, from a specialized diabetes medication to a general wedding-season weight-loss solution available to, as the patient put it, every Tom and Harry, suggests the commercial momentum has outpaced the medical training.
What Getz Pharma has not answered
Tirzee is a Getz Pharma product. The company has obligations beyond manufacturing and distribution. Patients across Pakistan are now using this injection without consistent guidance on whether multivitamins are necessary, whether existing diabetes medication should continue, and what dietary and exercise protocols should accompany the injection for safe and effective use.
The patient at the center of this story has a direct question for Getz Pharma: are you training the doctors you supply on what a patient should take alongside Tirzee? Is multivitamin supplementation necessary? Should patients continue sugar tablets like Glucophage? What is the company’s official patient guidance?
These are not unreasonable questions from someone injecting a prescription medication into his body every week on the recommendation of a doctor who may or may not have received any training beyond the sales visit.
Getz Pharma has been approached for comment. This story will be updated upon response.
If you are currently using or considering Tirzee, consult a qualified endocrinologist or diabetologist, not only the doctor who stocks it.
