Horrible stories in the media about Ozempic

[RebelliousHoping]

Hi,

When someone goes to a newspaper claiming ‘skinny jabs’ have done this and that, do they have to prove anything?

I keep seeing negatives about Ozempic in my sm feed the latest being about bone health, which I understand as the diabetic alternative to Wegovy.

Does it get checked these people have been on the legal proper medication (as opposed to the black market?)

Surely the newspapers risk being sued by the pharmaceutical companies?

There is no one size fits all when it comes to body altering medication. Or any medication for that matter. It stands to reason there would be downsides.

I understand you have to be careful with such medications if you've had liver or kidney problems (and I am sure, other health issues), which is a very good reason to see a medical professional before trying them. Also they can cause a very, very rare form of blindness.

I assume they check if it's relevant. eg the woman who died wasn't taking properly prescribed medication, where she got from is very relevant. Bone health is known to be negatively impacted by fast weight loss, not necessarily the medication itself. Where the medicine came from is not so relevant.

All medication has side effects- even something as common as over the counter ibuprofen can cause stomach ulcers and other issues.

You look at the risks and make an informed decision along with medical consultations and advice 🤷‍♀️

Same as literally any other drug.

The claims about “a rare form of blindness” are unfounded. They relate to a meta study about semaglutide and showed a possible correlation, not any actual causation, with very slightly increased risk of an already very rare condition called NAION. It needs further study, it’s not a proven risk factor at all.

the media shows the title the ozempik/ Mounjaro did this to me etc, but when you hear/read the whole story it usually was the fake ozempik/Mounjaro.

Every medication have side effects

The media print stories because they want people to share them, not necessarily because they’re true. I enjoy gawping at the Daily Fail (the comments section is quite the thing!) and they change their tune every day, one minute WLIs are life changing and the next, they’re life-destroying.

Best thing you can do is read the evidence for yourself. The media exists only to sell newspapers.

I read one the other day and three quarters of the way down it was revealed she had bought it in a pub. So not quite the same story as the one I thought I was reading.

I was given Ozempic by the diabetes clinic after other drugs failed to control my condition. Before starting the medication I had to have a bone density scan and an eye screening. They wouldn't be doing that if there were no risk of the drug affecting bone health and eyesight.

My diabetes is now under control but I do wonder what the effects would be on a non-diabetic person taking this medication. I don't expect the places selling it for weight loss give so many warnings about possible side effects either.

You should have been having regular eye checks and bone density checks for being diabetic. Diabetes is known for negatively impacting both. I doubt you were checked because of the medication.

If you are type 2 diabetic there is an existing risk of diabetic retinopathy. Using GLP1s can increase the risk, so a decision should be made by the prescriber as to whether the benefits outweigh the risks. And to monitor eyesight if it’s deemed appropriate to prescribe.

If you’re not diabetic and using GLP1s to lose weight there is no risk of diabetic retinopathy because you’re not diabetic.

Thank you all, afraid I just saw briefly which leg the lady in the news story had bandaged up and panic’d thinking how are all these hard luck stories swirling. There was another commenter yesterday on the back of another media story saying themselves and a few other WLI patients are under the care of a liver consultant who’ve never drank but didn’t seem to know about yellow carding a medication.

Just back from A&E where my GP sent me to get checked out this afternoon for potential DVT after my own recent genuine nothing to do with WLI post surgery troubles, put Wegovy on the form there, nothing at all said about use of and have fortunately come out cleared. (massive sigh of relief)

Newspapers usually have to verify their sources to avoid massive defamation suits, but the "skinny jab" side effects being reported are actually backed by a lot of clinical intake lately.

I used it for four months and the weight loss was fast, but the constant stomach pain was a major red flag for me.

It makes sense why Ozempic Lawsuits are becoming more common now that people are realizing these "rare" issues like gastroparesis are happening more often than advertised.

Just make sure you're tracking your own labs and not just trusting the social media hype.

At some point I think there will be a huge mis-selling scandal over these drugs, particularly from people who didn't really need them but wanted to lose a bit of weight easily. There is a risk versus benefit which is why use for weight loss is restricted but so many people are getting around the rules.

I’d be surprised if any lawsuits like that get off the ground in the UK. The site linked is a US site that’s effectively advertising for people to join in a class action lawsuit, which in the US is a process to try to get financial settlements out of the manufacturers through the pre court negotiation process. It’s a very US specific model, and relies on a tipping point where the costs of any court cases, regardless of outcome, outweigh the costs of a negotiated settlement. It’s nothing at all like the UK legal model.

If there were higher than expected cases of the rare side effects mentioned, there would be huge numbers of people in the UK reporting them. In fact, given that there are possibly millions of people taking GLP1s, the numbers of people with severe side effects is incredibly low.

Absolutely
I suddenly lost a few stone and I now have to take folic acid for the rest of my life. Bones are defo effected, as you said.

The more you click on these stories the more that will appear in your social media threads which blows them all out of proportion.

Every medication comes with risks, the risks for GLP1s and separately large weight loss are well known and documented and if you are interested in learning more about them probably best to avoid the dramatic social media feeds designed to suck in GLP1 users/those considering GLP1s/the anti-GLP1 crowd and then display lots of ads.