Social media fuels enthusiasm for new weight-loss drugs. Are regulators watching?
Australian regulators
have taken down nearly 1,900 ads as of early March for improperly plugging various GLP-1 agonists, an agency spokesperson told KFF Health News. Novo Nordisk says it didnt put up the ads, the majority of which were for their product Ozempic. The regulators are declining to say whos involved.
Doctors are also sounding alarms about the publicity. They believe patients will be driven to use these medications off-label, obtain unreliable forms of these drugs, or exacerbate other health conditions, like eating disorders. The drugs act in part as an appetite suppressant, which can dramatically reduce calorie intake to a concerning degree when not paired with nutritional guidance.
Elizabeth Wassenaar
, a regional medical director for the Eating Recovery Center, believes the drugs and associated advertising buildup will inadvertently trigger eating disorders. KFF Health News found ads showing thin patients measuring themselves with a tape measure and stepping on the scale, with accompanying captions goading viewers into going on GLP-1s.
Theyre being marketed very, very pointedly to groups that are vulnerable to experiencing body image dissatisfaction, she said.
Remi Bader, a curve model and TikTok creator specializing in documenting her realistic clothing buys, told one podcast her story of coming off a few months on Ozempic. She said she gained twice the weight back and that her binge eating disorder got so much worse. One study, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, found two-thirds of lost weight came back after discontinuation of semaglutide.
But social media users and influencers whether with white coats or ordinary patients are hopping on every platform to spread news of positive weight loss outcomes. There are those, for instance, who had gastric bypass surgery that didnt work and are now turning to TikTok for guidance, support, and hope as they begin taking a GLP-1. Theres even a poop-centric Facebook group in which people discuss the sometimes fraught topic of the drugs effect on their bowel movements.
Commercialism and Compounding Spark Excitement and Concern
Some have been so delighted by their medication-assisted weight loss they have become brand ambassadors. Samantha Klecyngier has dropped at least 58 pounds since she started on Mounjaro. She heard of the drug and her telemedicine weight loss program, Sequence, on TikTok. She and many others who have experienced considerable weight loss since starting the medication regimen point to its positive impact and their improved quality of life. Now she officially promotes the company on the app.
Though Klecyngier, a mother of two from the Chicago area, is not diabetic, she uses Mounjaro. When she was growing up, her parents had Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases that led them both to have open-heart surgery. Her father lost his life to complications of diabetes. She wants to avoid that fate.
But Klecyngiers story combining a personal journey with a profit-making entity is symbolic of another trend on social media: commercialism. Theres a spate of startups eyeing big money matching pharmaceuticals and related support with patients. (Sequence, the company Klecyngier pitches, just got acquired by WW, also known as WeightWatchers.)
Some doctors use social media to educate viewers about the drugs. Michael Albert, chief medical officer of telehealth practice Accomplish Health, says offering information to his more than 250,000 followers has helped point patients to the medical practice. Its received thousands of patient inquiries, more than the clinic can take on.
Companies like Accomplish startups with well-credentialed doctors are the glossy side of this social media boom.
But there are others like many spas and weight loss centers that offer the drugs, sometimes without much medical support, often alongside Botox and dermal fillers. Obesity doctors worry such marketing is creating unrealistic expectations.
Some spas and telemedicine operators claim to have compounded semaglutide. But compounding when pharmacies, rather than drug manufacturers, prepare a drug is a risky proposition, doctors caution. The risks are enormous, Simonetti said, warning of potential contamination from poor compounding practices. The risks of getting bacteria, she warned, the risks include death.
Weight loss clinics also frequently tout unconventional additions to semaglutide, including vitamin B12 and amino acids. Some patients incorrectly believe the former helps with nausea, Jaisinghani said; other clinics tout greater weight loss.
Novo Nordisk spokesperson Allison Schneider told KFF Health News in an email that the company shares doctors concerns about compounding and that its begun sending letters warning certain Health Care Providers about the related risks.
Some operations defend their use of often-cheaper compounded drugs. LH Spa & Rejuvenation, founded by Zuena, offers a compounded semaglutide formulation from QRx Weight Loss for $500 over four weeks. The spa learned about the regimen from a doctor. Im purchasing it, Zuena said. It comes next-day air in legitimate vials with lot numbers, expirations. Patients injections and dosages are overseen by on-site medical staff.
Most operators in this burgeoning industry are keen to emphasize their products high quality or their companys good works, as they seek money. Ro, a telehealth firm offering GLP-1s, said its marketing campaign in the New York City subway aims to start an important, sometimes difficult, conversation focused on de-stigmatizing obesity as a condition.
This widespread tactic is nothing short of maddening for pharma industry critics. They talk about trying to destigmatize obesity at the same time theyre talking about losing weight. Theyre co-opting the concept, said Judy Butler, a research fellow at PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center project focusing on evidence-based practices for drugs. Theyre trying to sell a weight loss drug.
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 9:00 am