Since it became popular on TikTok as a diet medicine, there has been a global scarcity of the diabetic treatment Ozempic. Charlotte Lytton explores the surge in popularity — as well as the historical hazards of quick-fix slimming medications.
It’s the symbol of any must-have TikTok product: the object flies through the air, only to be captured by eager hands. The most recent is Ozempic, a diet medicine that has been hashtagged 350 million times on the app. As they take their pills, young women grin at the camera. They take injection pens from their bags. Insert the needle into each of their tummies. Then they tell you how many more pounds they aim to lose in the next week. Diabetes therapy has recently begun to be used “off-label” for weight loss.
And is available for purchase without a prescription. Its feverish popularity on social media has driven demand so great that there have been global shortages; it is the slimming method du jour in Hollywood too, where A-listers now pay $1,500 per month for the promise of shedding a few pounds.
