While Social Media Influencers Push Ozempic for Weight Loss, Florida’s Diabetics Scramble for Meds

Social media apps on a smartphone are shown in a file photo. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

As social media influencers push the use of Ozempic for weight loss, Florida diabetics are scrambling to find meds to control their blood sugar.

In recent months, social media influencers and celebrities have been promoting the use of Ozempic as a miracle weight loss drug. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that while supplies are swept up by people using the drug for weight loss, Florida diabetics have been left scrambling to find the medication, prescribed to them by doctors to control their blood sugar levels.

Ozempic is administered through a pre-filled disposable single-patient-use injection pen and is used to improve blood sugar control in adults with Type 2 diabetes.

The drug’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, cautions that Ozempic is “not approved for chronic weight management.”

According to its website, Ozempic may cause serious side effects, including thyroid tumors and cancer.

But this does not seem to dissuade those who are desperate to find acceptance in an era where social media exposes people to an increasing level of body shaming while setting unrealistic body standards.

In the meantime, Florida doctors say the interest picks up daily, and patients who have no history of diabetes or pre-diabetes are calling them specifically asking for Ozempic for weight loss.

Doctors Weigh In

Dr. Jonathan Fialkow, a cardiologist at Baptist Health in Miami, told the Sun Sentinal he’s getting calls from patients who can’t find it. “People need it for medical conditions, and pharmacies are out of it,” he said. “The manufacturers aren’t able to keep up.”

Stacey, a CVS Pharmacy employee in Spring Hill, Florida, confirmed to The Epoch Times that her store has experienced a recent shortage of Ozempic. Alyssa, an employee at Walgreens in Tampa, Florida, told The Epoch Times they are also experiencing shortages.

According to Dr. Syed Haider, Ozempic is just the new fad in a long list of medications used by people to lose weight.

“Before Ozempic, Saxenda was the drug-du jour and everyone was asking for it for weight loss,” Haider told The Epoch Times. “Before that, it was Fen-Phen, which was pulled from the market when it was discovered that it caused cardiovascular problems. Now there’s a new one, Mounjaro, which is even more effective. So it may be the next thing influencers switch to.”

“It’s terrible that people are hoarding Ozempic, especially for weight loss,” Haider said, noting it was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration five years ago. “But then it was quickly discovered that a side effect of it was people can lose up to 15 to 20 percent of their body weight, and that’s the reason why it has taken off.”