America is advertising Ozempic as a weight loss solution

It is known by many names: Semaglutide, the Skinny Pen, Hollywood's worst kept secret, Ozempic. According to insiders, it is the "magic" drug that Mindy Kaling used to lose a whopping 20 kilogrammes and that Kim Kardashian used to fit into the Marilyn Monroe dress she wore to the Met Gala. Celebrities praising the benefits of TikTok also include Elon Musk and Dr Oz. And since the popularity of the injectable drug has exploded on TikTok, anyone with $177 can buy a dose. Sara Morano of TikToker showed off the pharmaceutical company Ro's widely circulated posters in the Times Square underground station today: "A weekly shot to lose weight" headlined a flyer in bright blue colours, next to a photo showing a woman injecting the drug directly into her stomach. The video has received more than 453 thousand views, with comments highlighting all the contradictions of an advertisement that we can safely say should never have seen the light of day, let alone on the station walls of America's most populous city.

The main purpose of semaglutide (trade name Ozempic) is not to make those who take it lose weight, because it is prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes to control blood sugar levels. Since "Hollywood's worst kept secret" landed on TikTok, the situation has quickly escalated. The alarm was sounded back in February, when drugmaker Novo Nordisk informed the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) that Ozempic would not be available in Australia before the end of March 2023, and even in Italy diabetics were having trouble getting supplies. Now the pharmaceutical company Ro has made Wegovy, or Ozempic in various dosages, available by subscription and approved in America as a weight-loss drug. The postings immediately caused outrage in the wake of the controversy that has been raging on social media since February, reviving a Hamletian doubt: How far are we willing to go to lose weight?