TGA investigates influencers after promoting diabetes drug Ozempic as weight loss treatment | Health

Australia’s medicines regulator is investigating social media platforms and influencers after users started promoting a diabetes drug as a weight loss treatment.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says the spread of videos touting Ozempic for weight loss has sparked a surge in demand and contributed to an ongoing global shortage of the drug.

The drug, sold under the brand name Ozempic in Australia, is subsidized under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. But doctors also prescribe it ‘off-label’ for weight loss in obese people.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee did not recommend subsidizing semaglutide for weight loss when it met in March, stating a lack of long-term data and that it “would require an extremely high investment with very uncertain for [the] health budget.

Under Australian law, prescription-only medicines cannot be advertised to the public. This is to protect people from false and misleading claims and to ensure that drug information is balanced and accurate.

TikTok influencers posted videos about their experiences with Ozempic for weight loss, while some outlets reported on celebrities using the drug and made headlines describing it as a “game changer”. . These videos and reports often fail to mention any potential side effects or warnings associated with its use.

A TGA spokesperson told the Guardian that it had “received reports of alleged illegal Ozempic advertisements appearing on digital platforms including social media, websites and media reports”.

“When videos about rapid weight loss with Ozempic went viral on TikTok, the trend was also flagged online and in other media. This sparked a huge demand for the product that the manufacturer was unaware of. prepared, and it quickly turned into a global shortage.

The spokesperson added that media organizations promoting Ozempic through positive news stories and headlines “potentially violate the Therapeutic Goods Act.”

“The TGA is actively investigating the alleged illegal advertising of Ozempic,” they said. “We work with multiple digital platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, eBay, Amazon, and Gumtree, among others.”

Advertising to the public can result in criminal penalties of up to $888,000 for individuals and $4.4 million for businesses, and civil penalties of up to $1.1 million for individuals and $11.1 million. dollars for organizations.

Ozempic has shown good results for obese people in clinical trials funded by the drug’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk. A separate study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism found that once patients stop using Ozempic, weight loss is likely to return.

The use of the drug can cause serious side effects such as possible thyroid tumors including cancer, hypoglycemia and inflammation of the pancreas. The most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea and constipation.

Because it is not subsidized by the government, those who received Ozempic for weight loss pay around $130 per pen. It should be used alongside lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise.

The countries that have approved the drug for weight loss have guidelines in place. The UK advises prescribing it to certain overweight and obese people provided they meet certain criteria and its use does not exceed two years.

It is not possible to solve the shortages by producing semaglutide locally due to a complex manufacturing process using specialized equipment. While another brand of semaglutide, called Wegovy, has been listed on Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Register, the manufacturer has given no indication of when it will be supplied to Australia or how much it will cost.

Diabetic patients who are prescribed Ozempic are prescribed alternative medications during the shortage, including Trulicity (dulaglutide). This resulted in a shortage of Trulicity.

The TGA estimates that Ozempic could be available again in April.

Tim Gill, professor of public health nutrition, said the availability of semaglutide around the world has been reduced.

“As the price at which the drug can be sold in Australia is lower than in other markets, Australia is likely to be a low priority in the supply chain,” he said. “It is somewhat misleading to attribute supply issues solely to demand for this drug by those looking to lose weight.”

Obesity charities Obesity Collective and the Weight Issues Network pointed out that obese people who use Ozempic “did so because their doctor deemed it clinically important to their health care and prescribed the drug to them.”

“Obesity is a chronic, recurring disease, with many different factors and causes – including social, genetic, biological and environmental – and often diet and exercise alone may not be enough for management,” they said. organizations in a press release.