By: Jenna Janssen OMAHA, Neb- Ozempic, a diabetes medication initially created to help manage blood sugar in Type 2 diabetes patients, has become a widely promoted weight-loss aid on social media, with influencers and celebrities endorsing its rapid results. The drug’s weight-loss potential, showcased heavily on TikTok, has contributed to a 594% surge in prescriptions among young adults over the past three years according to JAMA Medical Journal.
UNO psychology major Thomas Rowe said the casual, joking approach to Ozempic on social media can normalize off-label use in risky ways. “Joking is a coping strategy, especially for young people who feel like outcasts,” Rowe said. “Sometimes, that joking becomes self-deprecating, and it turns into your reality not always the best way, unfortunately.”
Yet, as the medication is increasingly used for non-diabetic purposes, diabetics like Emilia Dona-Munoz said the trend is creating real-world complications for those who rely on Ozempic to survive. “It’s frustrating,” said Dona-Munoz, who lives with Type 1 diabetes. “Medicine is already so difficult to come by and so expensive. Celebrities treat it simply as a weight-loss drug, and now there are shortages it’s really a lifesaving medicine.”
According to a report from analytics firm Trilliant, due to Ozempic’s booming popularity, U.S. prescriptions have risen by 304% over the past two years, Health with non-diabetic use accounting for a large portion of that increase. The shortage of medicine is reported to last to the end of 2024.
