Ozempic is a drug aimed at treating type 2 diabetes. However, for several weeks, TikTok users have been touting its appetite suppressant effects and using it even though they are not diabetics.
New trend on TikTok, praising the merits of Ozempic. The problem ? It is a drug reserved for the treatment of insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes. The hashtag on the social network has accumulated more than 600 million views, where women mainly prick themselves in the stomach, boasting of weight loss thanks to the product.
An attitude identified and denounced in France by the ANSM (National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products) and Health Insurance in a joint press release. The health authorities first recalled that in France it is a drug only available on prescription, but that “returns from the field report misuse in non-diabetic people for the purpose of weight loss”. According to health insurance calculations, nearly 2,185 Ozempic beneficiaries are not diabetic and inject themselves with a product that is not intended for them.
As the drug’s package insert states, it is an antidiabetic aimed at regulating blood sugar levels because it “stimulates the release of insulin when blood glucose levels are high”.
First, according to the ANSM, injecting this product can create a shortage for people who really need it, people with type 2 diabetes. This misuse “can cause, or accentuate, supply tensions” a thus alerted the health agency. Then, it can also have direct consequences for users, including “potentially serious side effects, such as gastrointestinal disorders, pancreatitis or hypoglycaemia”. An endocrinologist, Jean-François Gauthier, explained on March 2 to Europe 1 that “in 20% of cases, it is poorly tolerated on the digestive level, that is to say that you can have nausea, vomiting via a small signal on pancreatitis”.
The leaflet of the drug also specifies that it has a long-lasting action and therefore should only be used by type 2 diabetics once a week. It is also generally necessary to couple its use with a blood glucose meter because it can cause hypoglycemia. Among its side effects also cited categorized as “uncommon” to occur in less than one in ten patients is cited “increased heart rate, pancreatitis, injection site reaction”.
The authors of the statement therefore ask pharmacies to be more vigilant. In case of doubt, pharmacists are invited to “report suspicious prescriptions to the regional health agency”.
