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Thousands of videos on TikTok extol the miracle slimming effects of Ozempic, a drug to regulate diabetes. Promoted in particular by very popular influencers, the Ozempic has seen its sales explode as a result, at the risk of depriving diabetics, alert patients and doctors.
On Tik Tok, the hashtag #ozempic accumulates thousands of videossome reaching more than 3 millions of views. We see women who show their physical development since their first injection of this antidiabetic which increases the feeling of satiety, and generally leads to weight loss.
Users speculate on the weight loss of celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian, suspected of having used an antidiabetic to lose weight quickly. Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself has assured having used Wengovy, derived from Ozempic, in a tweet on October 2.
This virtual craze had real consequences: worldwide sales of Ozempic, produced by the Novo Nordisk laboratory, increased by 63 % in the last quarter of 2022. This demand is partly driven by prescriptions to non-diabetic patients who are looking to lose weight, which is outside of its approved indication.
Ozempic is one of the diabetes medications that mimics the GLP-1 hormone which stimulates insulin production, slows digestion and decreases the urge to eat. They are reserved for patients with type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes that affects 537 millions people in the world, or 1 in 10 people.
“Doctors must be held accountable for this shortage”
Ashli Hinds, 40, lives in Dallas, Texas, and has this type of diabetes:
I had trouble getting the Ozempic delivered to me with my prescription and the pharmacy couldn’t explain to me what was going on.
Last November, I ended up changing pharmacies. I now use a pharmacy that delivers the meds, it’s the only one that does, but I have to watch the schedule closely to make sure I can get my meds.
Doctors only give Ozempic in 30-day increments now. Before, you could get it for 2 or 3 months, but they reduced it to a month last summer.
This shortage worries me a great deal. It is only due to the enthusiasm of TikTokeurs to lose weight with this drug. Physicians must be held accountable for this shortage.
Contacted, Jean-François Thébaut, vice-president of the French Federation of Diabetics (FFD), clinical cardiologist, alert as to the risk of shortage in France:
“There is no shortage of stock yet, but we are in tension. Some pharmacies have difficulty getting supplies, it’s a problem for diabetic patients”.
In France too, Ozempic is only authorized for diabetic patients. It can nevertheless be prescribed by a doctor outside the indication, that is to say without reimbursement. And according to pharmacistsfake prescriptions were used to obtain antidiabetics.
There is another drug for weight loss, produced by the same laboratory under the name Wegovy. Its prescription is fairly framed: in France, it is only authorized for severe obesity (with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40. It can only be prescribed by specialists, with a request for prior authorization and without reimbursement.In the United States, it is authorized for overweight adults (BMI≥27) who have medical problems related to their weight.
Bruno Vergès, endocrinologist, diabetologist, specialist in metabolic diseases at the CHU Dijon Bourgogne, concludes:
It is possible that, to circumvent the difficulties of prescription and the non-reimbursement of Wegovy, certain doctors prescribe Ozempic [remboursé] to achieve weight loss in non-diabetic obese patients, which is not legal.
In the United States, when Wegovy was launched in June 2021, the Novo Nordisk laboratory experienced production problems that prevented it from meeting demand. People wishing to lose weight have therefore turned to Ozempic. Contacted by the editorial staff of France 24 Observers, the Novo Nordisk laboratory recognized “periodic stock shortages” and indicated that it had invested in its production site in Chartres in order to “relieve strong tensions”.
The price difference may also explain the appeal of Ozempic in the United States: a monthly treatment of Ozempic costs around 892 dollars per month (817 euros), against 1300 dollars (1190 euros) for Wegovy. This price difference is all the more significant in the event that the insurance companies do not reimburse the entire expense, or if the person obtains the drug through parallel networks without a prescription.
“I wanted to lose weight and I had never succeeded”
A non-diabetic woman from Quebec, who uses Ozempic to lose weight, tells our editorial staff:
Here in Quebec, the Ozempic is accredited only for diabetes theoretically.
But I wanted to lose weight and I had never succeeded. I have no obesity factor but I have always been plump! And yet I eat normally and I move.
My doctor told me about it and I said yes! It was easy to get it for me since I take a “diabetic” dose, which is 1 mg. I lost over 15% of my weight in one year.
On TikTok, beauty centers Americans praising the benefits of taking Ozempic are multiplying. Sites domiciled in the United States sell also the active product of Ozempic online without a prescription – and while the site says the product is for research purposes only, it doesn’t appear to ask the buyer for any special permission.
Ozempic is not a miracle drug
Taking Ozempic should always be accompanied by medical monitoring, doctors assure. “The drug can have unpleasant side effects, or very rare side effects on the thyroid and pancreas,” notes Jean-François Thébaut.
While drug-induced weight loss is often substantial, udo study published in April 2022 found that after one year, patients had regained two-thirds of the lost weight.