OZEMPIC IS NOT THE ANSWER, REGARDLESS OF WHAT TIK TOK MIGHT TELL YOU

The new “fab way to stay fit” is coming at a devastating price.

Words by Maddy Brousseau

Art by Marisa Goldberg

I think I can speak for all women by saying we are sick and tired of health trends, spread by randos, taking over the internet to enforce the body standard women must fit. In the past, we’ve seen unhealthy wellness fads like intermittent fasting, juice cleanses, and dry scooping before working out. Though the trends amongst the Hollywood elite cost thousands more, they are equally as unhealthy and just as prominent in the media. Whether it’s getting a BBL, removing said BBL, getting lip filler, or getting the small amount of fat in your jaw removed to look “snatched,” women cannot catch a break. However, what if I told you that these useless trends are now not only affecting women’s body image but the health of an entire community? Recently the new fab way to stay fit is taking Ozempic, a medication meant to treat type two diabetes that has a side effect of weight loss. You might have heard of Ozempic from the tasteless jokes made at the Oscars or on Saturday Night Live, or from TikTok where #Ozempic has over 600 million views. This trendy drug is taking over Hollywood faster than you can say “eat the rich.” With the surge of people purchasing the drug every month, the FDA categorized it to be in short supply. However, this has not stopped doctors from prescribing this drug to people that do not qualify for it.

For Beverly Hills internist, Dr. Dennis Evangelatos, “supply issues become secondary.” This means the treatment of an individual patient is more important than the interest of an entire population. “(Supply) probably affects my decisionmaking ability less than the average person would think.”

Doctors can technically prescribe Ozempic for their patients to help them lose weight, regardless of the repercussions it has on the diabetic community. Ozempic costs around $1300 a month and can be incredibly difficult to get covered by insurance, so the people who can afford it, buy it.

“Last January, my insurance company was so expensive and due to the shortage [of Ozempic], they were not giving the discounts they initially did. I went about three weeks without medication because CVS could not get it. My blood sugar went out of luck because of that,” said Neal Morris, who has had type two diabetes for the past 10 years.

When a patient has type two Diabetes, they have insulin resistance syndrome, so their insulin is unable to convert their blood sugar into energy, muscle, and fat. These high blood glucose levels can damage many of the body’s organs. There are far more negative symptoms that can result from type two diabetes that the proper prescription of Ozempic could alleviate. Now that the medication is certified to be in low stock, diabetics are not able to access this drug. Instead, it is being used by patients that seek it for cosmetic purposes.

However, before Ozempic rose to popularity, diabetic patients still had a lot of trouble accessing proper care.

“A shortage of doctors in underserved areas as well as the pricing of medications contribute to low-income diabetics getting less than adequate care,” said Evangelatos.

Even for Morris, a full-time nurse from North Carolina, the cost of Ozempic every month can be costly and even debilitating.

“Somebody who has diabetes has to pay quite a bit of money out of pocket for medication,” said Morris. “The people who are caught up in this disease could buy better food with the money we use to pay for our medication, but we can’t. I work, and in today’s economy, it doesn’t go very far.”

Elon Musk, in his typical fashion of saying and doing shitty things, was one of the first to announce he is an open diabetic medication user in a tweet he posted in Oct 2022. Slowly, other celebrities like the Kardashians, Post Malone, and Mindy Kailing were accused of taking Ozempic without a diagnosis of diabetes.

Now how could the repercussions of this situation possibly get any worse? Well, Hollywood has controlled the beauty standard presented to women through the media for as long as we can remember. We see the new “perfect body” everywhere, whether it’s the cover of the magazine we see in the checkout line or on our For You Page, it feels like we are drowning in voices telling us the way we look is not enough anymore.

“Rumors are circling through TikTok and The Daily Mail that the Kardashians are favoring the ‘heroin skinny’ look, so now curves are no longer ‘in style.’ This affects me and my mental health a lot because now I feel pressure to achieve this idealized look. Body positivity is no longer trending,” said SU freshman Jackie Dutmers.

Young women feel as though their bodies should be morphed to fit the fashion that’s in vogue when really our bodies are so much more than moldable clay.

“I see the comments on Kylie Jenner’s post that praise her six-pack abs and ‘ballerina’ arms. I can’t help but want that for myself,” Dutmers continues.

It is estimated by the National Institute of Health that around 40% of women are dissatisfied with the way their bodies look. Almost half of the female population thinks negatively of their bodies every day, and their insecurities have been fueling our economy for so long. We, unfortunately, live in a world where our physical appearance is a token exchanged for receiving adequate attention from others when it comes to meeting romantic partners or interviewing for a job in the workforce. The deficiency of self-confidence in women feels so ingrained in the machinations of our society, it seems almost impossible to change our mindsets.

Of course, we have seen trends in the past where body positivity was widely praised by celebrities like Lizzo and Ashley Graham, but inevitably people only absorb the message on a surface level. We can only ride that wave until Bella Hadid brings back low-waisted jeans and women with different body types once again feel silenced. Sometimes the forced silence makes it feel like utilizing the effects of Ozempic is the only way to feel like they can fit in.

“If there were no repercussions to using Ozempic and I had access to it, I would use it. The plethora of celebrities on the news who have been rumored to have taken the drug suddenly look happy,” Dutmers admitted.

It is not your fault if this is where your mind goes. It is hard to see yourself as beautiful when the bar is constantly being raised. It is the companies feeding off your doubts that are to blame, the media influencers that know they are promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

For Hollywood to stop making stupid decisions that have harmful effects takes a large uproar bordering on revolution. So instead of worrying about what you can’t control, keep the change small and think about your community. Hype up your girlfriends and remind them of how beautiful they are. Here at Jerk , we love you just the way you are, and we don’t advise the use of weight-altering drugs meant to treat conditions you don’t have.