(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) In order to maintain their lean and trim appearances, American celebrities are buying large quantities of diabetes drugs—despite the fact that they do not have diabetes, Fox Business reported.
Novo Nordisk, the Big Pharma company that manufactures the diabetes-related drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, told Fox Business that demand has spiked due to celebrities writing about their drug-taking experience on social media.
Because of the spike in demand, a shortage has ensued.
“We are currently experiencing intermittent supply disruptions on various doses of Ozempic due to the combination of incredible demand coupled with overall global supply constraints,” the pharmaceutical company said in a statement.
The company also said that it hopes it can soon resolve “supply constraints following unprecedented product demand and short-term manufacturing issues” with Wegovy, a semiglutide drug initially approved for diabetes that has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a weight-loss drug.
Of the many celebrities advertising the drugs as weight-loss supplements, the most influential is Elon Musk, who admitted to using the drug Wegovy to maintain what he calls his “fit, ripped and healthy bod.”
Shirtless Elon Musk vacations in Mykonos on luxury yacht https://t.co/B1Ybypc2JW pic.twitter.com/URvWlYAgDj
— New York Post (@nypost) July 18, 2022
The itnernet is full of videos “of people who have used the medication as a shortcut to avoid exercise and a healthy diet to help lose weight,” said Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
“Many obese people now see Wegovy as a way to ‘jump start’ their weight loss when other attempts have been unsuccessful,” he said.
Even those who are not obese “seek to obtain the medication ‘off label’ to get leaner or ‘cut’ and achieve a slimmer or more toned appearance.”
