Ozempic, a groundbreaking medication for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, has been in shortage in recent months. But are those using the drug for weight loss really to blame? Brut investigated ...
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00:00Everyone is on Ozempic.
00:01It's a miracle.
00:02It's too good to be true.
00:03You might have heard of Ozempic, a type 2 diabetes medication that also happens to be
00:07really effective for weight loss.
00:10Celebrities rumored to have used Ozempic have been accused of sparking a social media frenzy
00:13around the drug, causing a shortage.
00:16People are doing Ozempic parties here in LA, where they all do Ozempic.
00:20But the reasons for the shortage are a lot more nuanced.
00:23Let's take a look at how we got here.
00:29Ozempic was developed by pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and FDA approved in 2017.
00:35It was a game changer for people with type 2 diabetes looking to lower their blood sugar.
00:42People with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once weekly Ozempic.
00:47Since it helps the body to make more insulin, the insulin helps to lower the glucose.
00:51Also since it slows down how quickly food moves from your stomach to your intestines,
00:55your blood sugars don't spike as much after you eat.
00:57So it gives your body more time to match those carbohydrates.
01:01In clinical trials, researchers found that Ozempic was really effective for weight loss.
01:05So Novo Nordisk rebranded semaglutide as Wigovi for weight loss at a bit of a higher dose
01:10than Ozempic.
01:11The active ingredient in Ozempic and Wigovi is identical.
01:14It's the same medication, it's semaglutide.
01:17To me, it's ridiculous that they need to make two different medications that are exactly
01:20the same and label them differently.
01:22But nonetheless.
01:23In 2021, Wigovi was FDA approved for people with obesity or overweight with at least one
01:29weight-related condition.
01:30Do they have sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, polycystic
01:36ovarian syndrome?
01:37Because those are all things that if the obesity is treated, will also secondarily be treated.
01:44In trials, Wigovi helped people lose on average nearly 15% of their starting body weight.
01:49The drug was a godsend for people who had struggled to lose weight and managed their
01:53weight-related conditions even after changing their diet and exercise.
01:57When Wigovi was launched, the company really went out and marketed it well.
02:04Plus they had this savings card so that people could get it at a relatively inexpensive rate.
02:09It being once a week, people were more willing to do it.
02:14And the weight loss that we saw was substantially higher than with the other medications.
02:20Wigovi became so popular that Novo Nordisk couldn't keep up with the demand, but doctors
02:24were told the shortage was temporary.
02:27And so many physicians thought, well, if it's temporary, then we'll prescribe Ozempic instead
02:32to tide them over until the Wigovi problem is fixed.
02:35But the problem then was the Wigovi shortage kept going on.
02:39And then there was the Ozempic shortage.
02:42Doctors were able to prescribe Ozempic off-label for weight loss, which is permitted once the
02:46treatment is cleared for something other than type 2 diabetes.
02:50And unlike Wigovi, it's easier to get covered by insurance, encouraging more doctors to prescribe it.
02:55Wigovi, on the other hand, is a lot harder to get covered because there are some plans
03:00that just have a blanket, we don't cover weight loss medications, they won't cover anything.
03:03Word of Ozempic spread among celebrities who could afford to buy it without coverage, and
03:08several public figures have commented on its use in Hollywood.
03:11Everyone is on Ozempic.
03:13It's a miracle.
03:14It's too good to be true.
03:15I didn't even know I was on it.
03:16I stopped taking it.
03:17That's too irresponsible.
03:21Ozempic then started trending on TikTok, where hashtag Ozempic stands at over 470 million
03:28views as of the time of this recording.
03:31So I'm starting Ozempic today.
03:35Week 17 Ozempic update.
03:37What I ate for lunch as a midsize girl on Ozempic.
03:40In the past, when I was trying to prescribe weight loss medications to people, they'd be
03:43very hesitant.
03:45Once they saw that famous people were doing it and it was OK and it was cool, more people
03:51wanted it.
03:53So at this point, Ozempic is being prescribed for both diabetes and weight loss.
03:57And as news of the shortages came out, many accused people using the drug for weight loss
04:02of taking away crucial medicine from people with type 2 diabetes.
04:06Thanks to the hashtag Ozempic journey, there is a shortage of Ozempic.
04:12I can't get the Ozempic that I need and that my body responds to well because a bunch of
04:18people decided, oh, well, I'm just going to use it to lose weight.
04:22But those using off-label Ozempic for weight loss say obesity is also a chronic illness
04:27and that the vast majority of these prescriptions are written for people with obesity or overweight
04:31with at least one weight related condition.
04:34Yes, I'm primarily using it for weight loss.
04:37However, there were underlying issues that I was having due to my weight.
04:43I was almost 250 pounds and I lost 105 pounds from this medicine.
04:50I'm no longer pre-diabetic.
04:52My high blood pressure is gone.
04:55I'm not being selfish by any means by using this medication.
05:00I'm trying to be here longer for my children.
05:04I think that there are people who truly need the medication to improve their health who,
05:09in an act of desperation, because they couldn't get the drug they're supposed to get, which
05:14is the Wegovy, got Ozempic.
05:17The people who are using it because they just want to be pretty.
05:20I don't agree with that part.
05:22But I think that's a minority of the people who are using it because those people can't
05:26get it through insurance.
05:27They're not going to be able to get it approved.
05:28So these are just people with a whole lot of money to throw at something that's cosmetic.
05:33For people who use semaglutide for weight loss, stopping or switching medications can
05:37worsen any weight-related conditions.
05:39Obesity is a chronic illness and needs to be treated like a chronic illness, just like
05:44we treat high blood pressure.
05:45You don't give someone a high blood pressure pill and say, oh, your blood pressure is normal
05:48now, we can stop it.
05:49So what happens if someone with type 2 diabetes can't get access to their Ozempic prescription?
05:54Well, they could switch to a different medication, but they'd be missing out on benefits only
05:59Ozempic can provide.
06:01It's been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events, and not all diabetes medications have
06:07been shown to do that.
06:08And for people who have fatty liver, there's also data that it's helpful for that.
06:11So how did we get here?
06:13Well, if you combine the groundbreaking effectiveness of semaglutide for both diabetes treatment
06:18and weight loss, Novo Nordisk's hardcore marketing of these drugs, celebrity rumors, the power
06:24of TikTok and manufacturing delays, we get the shortages we have today.
06:28I can understand why people who are doing well on their Ozempic feel angry that they
06:35can't get it now because people are using it for other purposes.
06:40But I don't blame the people who are using it.
06:44I blame the lack of manufacturing.
06:47We live in a country where over two thirds of the population is over, are either overweight
06:52or obese.
06:53We live in a country where over 25 million people have diabetes, most of whom have type
06:572.
06:58If you're going to say we want you to use our drug all the time, then you better be
07:05prepared to give all these people medication.