Doctors caution using diabetes drug for weight loss

Doctors have warned about the health risks of the diabetes medicine Ozempic as some young people in China are taking it to lose weight without professional guidance.

To satisfy her desire to lose weight, a girl surnamed Wang, who doesn't have diabetes, bought Ozempic from commercial outlets rather than a hospital last year. She was told that its side effects were less than diet pills.

The imported drug Ozempic was approved by the National Medical Products Administration for Type 2 diabetes treatment in April 2021 and was included into the drug list of the country's health policy eight months later. One dose of the injection costs 478 yuan ($67), according to the 2021 National Reimbursement Drug List.

"I was very cautious at first. I took only 0.25 mg in the first shot. Nothing happened. One week later, I took another 0.25 mg in the second shot and there was still no effect," said Wang.

During consultation, a doctor told her that people often take 1 mg of Ozempic to lose weight.

Wang increased the dosage to 0.5 mg. This time, the effect was troubling.

"I suffered from belching, nausea, vomiting, sleeplessness and poor appetite. My weight dropped by one kilogram on the second night," she said.

Wang struggled between pain and happiness during that week. She couldn't eat anything and kept hiccupping.

"I hope other girls won't take Ozempic to lose weight. It's physical torment. Even after these side effects disappeared and I lost four kilograms, I won't dare take this medicine again," Wang added.

Despite the fact that Ozempic was approved in the United States in 2021 for weight-loss treatment, self-prescription without medical guidance and observation still pose health risks, experts warned.

Wang Xin, deputy chief physician of the endocrinology department at China-Japan Friendship Hospital, told China Daily that some patients wanted her to give them Ozempic to lose weight and she refused.

"So far, Ozempic was approved in China for treatment of Type 2 diabetes, rather than weight reduction. Taking Ozempic without medical advice will increase the risk of medullary thyroid carcinoma and pancreatitis. Patients who take this medicine may experience constipation, diarrhea, poor appetite and other side effects. If people have had intestinal surgery or have a history of intestinal obstruction, they should not take this medicine. So its prescription must consider its indication and contraindications," said Wang.

Because Ozempic is in short supply in many hospitals, some people have resorted to other channels to obtain the drug.

Zhang Hongyu, a 42-year-old woman, told China Daily that after years of obesity and diabetes, she bought seven doses of Ozempic from a medical representative.

She used to take Metformin, a hypoglycemic drug, to control blood glucose and lose weight. However, drug resistance made her look for a new option.

"I took the first shot on June 2 and the second shot on Wednesday, with a dosage of 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg respectively," said Zhang.

After the second dose, she suffered from mild diarrhea.

Together with dieting and exercise, she lost 2.7 kilograms in six days.

In another development, on June 3, the National Medical Products Administration accepted the application of Ozempic for weight reduction. According to the report on nutrition and chronic diseases in China in 2020, released by China's National Health Commission, more than 50 percent of adults in China are overweight or obese.