Hollywood Ozempic ‘craze’ triggering ‘frustrating’ drug shortages for diabetics
The use of Ozempic and Wegovy for fast weight loss is now so widespread, it’s leading to nationwide shortages of the drugs for those who need it to treat Type 2 diabetes.
“It’s really frustrating for a lot of patients,” Dr. Gregory Dodell of Central Park Endocrinology told The Post. He explained that some of his diabetic patients have been made to wait several months before getting their prescriptions refilled, causing physical and mental health setbacks.
Insulin-regulating semaglutide injections like Ozempic and Wegovy have become popular for those looking to quickly and easily shed weight.
Ozempic was quickly embraced by Hollywood and the uber wealthy — Elon Musk said he used sister drug Wegovy last year and it was speculated that the Kardashians were among its fans, though Khloe Kardashian denied using it.
It was even the butt of awards show jokes.
“For those of you who don’t know, gaslighting is when someone tries to convince you that your own perceptions of reality are wrong. Like when celebrities say they lost weight by drinking water, but really it’s because everyone’s on Ozempic,” Chelsea Handler joked as she presented an award for Julia Roberts’ film “Gaslit” at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday.
Dodell said that some in his field have begun prescribing the drug “for weight loss for people who want to lose a couple extra pounds for summer or vacations” and believes that “society’s view on body image and the thin ideal” is driving the enormous spike in the use of these medications — along with eating disorders.
This week, actress Jameela Jamil called out the use of the drug for aesthetic reasons only.
“I have said what I have said about the potential harm of people using the diabetes medication for weight loss only,” Jamil wrote on Instagram. “I fear for everyone in the next few years. Rich people are buying this stuff off prescription for upwards of $1,000. Actual diabetics are seeing shortages. It’s now a mainstream craze in Hollywood.”
Indeed, the Food and Drug Administration is reporting an ongoing shortage of Ozempic due to increased demand — along with Wegovy, essentially a higher dose of semaglutide that’s specifically used to treat weight loss.
“It’s really unfortunate,” endocrinologist Dr. Dodell said, noting that the struggle to get their prescription drugs refilled have become “a huge stressor” for his diabetic patients.
“I don’t really buy into using it as a weight-loss medication,” he added.
He’s also concerned about the longterm effects of being on the medication for any reason other than diabetes or insulin resistance.
“The big, literally billion-dollar, question is: what are the long term effects? We just don’t know. There’s not enough long-term data out there.”
Ozempic was first approved in the US in 2017. After seeing the how the prescription drug helped people to feel satiated and better manage their eating habits, doctors began prescribing the drug as an off-label use for longterm weight management. It’s advertised for as low as $25 a month with commercial or private insurance but uninsured patients can expect to pay about $170 to $342 per weekly dose depending on the dosage prescribed.
“It does a few things in the body such as causing delayed gastric emptying, reducing appetite and energy intake, and can lower hemoglobin A1C,” Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, founder of the Institute for Muscle-Centric Medicine in New York City, explained to The Post.
The shot “is taken once a week, exactly as prescribed by your health care provider, along with diet and exercise, to lower blood sugar in adults with Type 2 diabetes,” the official website explains.
Commercials for the drug advertise it as a way to manage the chronic condition while touting that patients lose, on average, up to 12 pounds in 40 weeks.
As the debate over who these semaglutide injections should be prescribed to persists, WebMd’s Chief Physician Editor of Medical Affairs Dr. Brunilda Nazario noted that the rise of obesity and diabetes in the US go hand in hand.
“It is not just the individual who suffers with this condition. It is us as a society that really has to be responsible for looking at [obesity] as a condition. This person will go on to have other metabolic abnormalities and conditions related to their weight,” she told The Post, noting obesity can lead to Type 2 diabetes.
Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ozempic and Wegovy, told The Post that they “expect the supply disruptions to continue through January on the Ozempic pen that delivers 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg doses.”
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