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Australian TikTokeurs have touted a diabetes drug with “slimming” properties. This has created a real shortage of the product, to the detriment of the patients who need it. Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, warns about these practices.
#ozempic, #ozempicjourney, #ozempicaustralia… These hashtags are trending on Tiktok and for good reason. They were promoted by Australian influencers on the Chinese social network TikTok. They touted the drug Ozempic, a semaglutide prescribed for type 2 diabetes. But it’s not to treat the disease that influencers have promoted this drug, but for its slimming properties. So much so that it is in short supply on the island.
prescriptions for obesity
Australian authorities quickly caught wind of the problem and asked doctors to prescribe the drug only to people with type 2 diabetes, according to our colleagues at Guardian and no longer for people suffering from obesity.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is Australia’s regulatory authority for therapeutic products such as drugs, medical devices and diagnostic tests, even issued a statement on the matter in mid-May. , alerting on “the increase in demand due to prescriptions made for obesity when Ozempic is not indicated“.
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No miracle drug
In addition to causing a shortage, “taking a drug outside its indication can be dangerous for your health” recalls Dr. Gérald Kierzek, who warns in general about these practices.
“The health authorities and the Council of the Order must seize the subject, whether in Australia, or even here in France, where this kind of practice will eventually happen. worries the specialist. “A drug must be taken on prescription for the pathology it is intended to treat, but recommendations or advertising for drugs or health products by influencers or even by influencer doctors sometimes, should be prohibited and sanctioned in accordance with the deontology”.