People using diabetic medicine for weight loss said to be cause of shortage

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - A popular social media trend is said to be the cause of a diabetes medication shortage.

People who don’t suffer from diabetes or obesity have been using Ozempic for weight loss. The effects of the medicine have been trending on social media platforms like TikTok.

Dr. Arshpreet Kaur says the drug was studied with obese patients.

“Ozempic, or semaglutide, was approved for diabetic treatment and then they saw it had good weight loss benefits. The FDA actually approved it last year,” said Kaur.

However, the short and long term side effects on others aren’t well-known.

“People who are actually already just borderline overweight and they just wanna look better, we don’t know the effects in those people, how their metabolism will be affected, or if there will be more side effects,” she said.

Kaur says improper use of the medication poses at least one major risk and she advises against unnecessary usage.

“Every medication comes with side effects and even this has side effects; the most common being nausea and vomiting. The main concern we have is the risk of something called pancreatitis.”

The medication is also pretty expensive.

“Out of pocket it costs $1,200 to maybe $1,300 dollars a month,” said Kaur.

She says the problem won’t be going anywhere for a while.

“If anybody is affected by the shortage, definitely talk to your provider and ask them for an alternative instead of waiting for it to come, because the situation may not improve for another few months.”

Copyright 2022 KSLA. All rights reserved.