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“I never read the instructions”: for six months, she has been diverting Ozempic, an antidiabetic, to lose weight
“I never read the instructions”: for six months, she has been diverting Ozempic, an antidiabetic, to lose weight
(SPECIAL SUBJECT / FRANCE 2)
What if it was the miracle recipe for losing weight effortlessly? Initially, a drug reserved for type 2 diabetics. On arrival, healthy people who divert it to lose weight, even if it means potentially putting themselves in danger. One of them testifies in this extract from “Special Envoy”.
The new darling of Hollywood is called Ozempic. This anti-diabetic with appetite suppressant properties has become the miracle cure for stars and influencers to lose their extra pounds. On social networks, the news spread like wildfire, and Internet users around the world began to share their “good deals” for obtaining the drug secretly.
In France, unlike in the United States, we hide to talk about it. For six months, Anna (her first name has been changed and you will not see her face in this extract from “Special Envoy”) has been using Ozempic to lose weight. She weighed 70 kilos and was 1.65 meters tall – too much for her.
After the failure of several diets, she heard about Ozempic on the radio and on social networks. Interested in its appetite suppressant effect, she asked her general practitioner to prescribe it for her. He knows perfectly well that Anna is not diabetic, and that she wants to use it to lose weight.
However, in France as in the United States, marketing authorization (AMM) for Ozempic has been granted only for type 2 diabetes. It is possible to be prescribed it to lose weight, but the The prescription must then imperatively specify that this prescription is done off-label. Anna’s doctor did not mention it and above all, he did not explain anything to her about the medication and the risks she faces (in particular severe gastrointestinal conditions).
Off-label, stipulates the Council of the Order of Physicians, a medication must only be prescribed in the absence of another solution, and it must be the subject of reinforced information. Anna’s doctor only warned her that she would not be reimbursed by Health Insurance. Each syringe costs him between 80 and 90 euros, the price to pay for “feel good about yourself”, according to her.
However, despite 9 kilos less, Anna does not feel entirely light-minded, and she herself judges her approach “dishonest, because I know that there are people who really need it, and I take their syringe from them”, she admits. This diversion of Ozempic is in fact not without consequences for type 2 diabetics: it accentuates already existing supply tensions.
Excerpt from “Slimming: the miracle injection?”, a report to be seen in “Special Envoy” on October 10, 2024.
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