Diabetes drug in short supply after TikTok influencers tout it for weight loss
.jpg "“I went without (the drug) for three weeks,” one woman with diabetes said on TikTok. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)")
A prescription drug for diabetics is in short supply coming into the new year, and doctors are attributing part of the issue to TikTok influencers.
Ozempic helps manage type 2 diabetes — but can also help people lose weight, contributing to the shortage and leaving diabetics scrambling for other options, according to health news service HealthDay.
“We’ve heard reports of people really struggling to fill their prescriptions,” Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief science and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association, told HealthDay. “I can tell you that some of my patients have said, oh, yeah, you know, I had to go to lots of different pharmacies to finally find it. It’s been a problem.”
Diabetics and others are sharing their frustrations with the shortage online — particularly on TikTok, where some creators are getting millions of views and questions on their videos touting the drug for weight loss.
“I’m diabetic and this was the only thing that stabilized my BMs and now can’t get hold of it due to people like this abusing it for weight loss,” one person wrote on a weight-loss video. “It’s a joke.”
“It took me close to a month to get my prescription filled and even then I only got a third of my prescription. I went without (the drug) for three weeks,” another patient said on TikTok.
The original diabetic drug touted for weight loss by celebrity Kim Kardashian was Wegovy, according to HealthDay. Once Wegovy supplies began to dwindle, doctors tapped into supplies of Ozempic, bolstering the shortage, the news service reported.
Both Wegovy and Ozempic are injections that contain doses of semaglutide. Wegovy, which is a 2.4 mg weekly injection, was officially approved as a drug treatment for chronic weight management in June 2021, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ozempic, a 1 mg injection, was first approved to treat type 2 diabetes in 2017, according to the administration.
While Ozempic can have benefits for those who are overweight, family physician Francisco Prieto told Bloomberg that people who need the drug more should have priority.
“Right now, diabetes is the greater danger, and those folks have a higher need for the drug,” Prieto told Bloomberg.
That mentality hasn’t curbed interest online, though. The tag #ozempicweightloss has been viewed more than 145 million times on TikTok, and #ozempic has been viewed more than 378 million times as of Jan. 4.
Some are advertising their experiences with the drug, saying they’ve lost 10, 20 or more pounds in a matter of weeks.
According to Ozempic, adults can lose up to 14 pounds taking the medication, but the company stresses the drug is not to be used for weight loss.
The Ozempic and the Wegovy supply shortage is predicted to be resolved by early 2023, according to the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. As of Jan. 4, both prescription drugs were “currently in shortage,” according to the FDA’s drug shortage database.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Diabetes drug in short supply after TikTok influencers tout it for weight loss."
