The Utah Poison Control Center has seen a 640% increase in calls related to Ozempic and similar drugs since 2020. This report comes at the same time as model Lottie Moss talked about her Ozempic overdose experience and called it the “worst decision” she has ever made. Moss is the sister of supermodel Kate Moss and hosts her own podcast called “Dream On.”

Lottie Moss said, “If this is a warning to anyone, please, if you’re thinking about doing it, do not take it. Like, it’s so not worth it. I would rather die at any day than take that again.” She also explained on her podcast that she received the medication from a friend rather than a doctor.

She urged her podcast listeners to avoid trying Ozempic, Wegovy, or other GLP-1 inhibitors. Moss said she couldn’t keep water or food down and was telling her friend she needed to go to the hospital. She eventually had a seizure, an experience she called “scary” and “horrible.”

“This should not be a trend right now,” Moss said. “Where did the body positivity go here? We were doing so well,” Moss admitted that she was taking double the dose that would be recommended for somebody of her body size.

The HighWire has reported the serious side effects associated with Ozempic and other GLP-1 inhibitors, including pancreatitis, stomach paralysis, and suicidal ideations.

A Salt Lake City pharmacist, Kevin DeMass, insists that it is a good drug, but it is very easy for the user to make a dosage error. He said the syringes are not always clearly labeled and that patients can easily overdose and end up in the hospital because they are self-administering the drug at home.

Semaglutide is the primary ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy and similar drugs. The FDA has warned against using compounded versions of these drugs for weight loss because these formulations have not been approved for safety and effectiveness by the FDA. The agency does not denounce the off-label use of drugs that have not been specifically approved for weight loss.

This is different from the way the FDA talks about using Ivermectin off-label to treat COVID-19.

The FDA lost a court case and had to remove a social media post telling the public that they shouldn’t be taking Ivermectin because they are not horses. The FDA page for Ivermectin encourages the public not to use the drug to treat or prevent COVID-19 on the basis that it is not FDA-approved for that purpose. The website also alludes to hospitalizations that occurred when humans took the animal formulations of Ivermectin.

Regarding the use of semaglutide products for weight loss, the FDA states, “FDA recognizes the substantial consumer interest in using compounded semaglutide products for weight loss.” The FDA states, “Reported semaglutide overdose adverse events include gastrointestinal effects (e.g., nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain), fainting, headache, migraine, dehydration, acute pancreatitis, and gallstones.”

A CNN report in December said poison control centers across the country saw a 15-fold increase in the number of semaglutide overdose reports in 2023 when compared to 2019. In 94% of those calls, the semaglutide medication was the only substance reported.

Calley Means and Jillian Michaels had a debate on News Nation regarding the use of Ozempic for weight loss. Michaels said that patients can get 15% weight loss with GLP-1 inhibitors, which would only be 45 pounds for a 300 pound individual. She said that wouldn’t be enough and that person’s weight loss would plateau. Michaels advocates for reducing calories a little bit and adding in a step count goal as a natural way of losing weight without medication. In addition, Michaels and Means argued that semaglutide medication requires patients to stay on the medication for life. This is on the basis that it limits appetite and people gain the weight back if they go off of the medication.

Means added that the cause of the weight problem in America is the processed food industry. The HighWire reported about the Time Magazine article that originally alluded that processed food isn’t all that bad for consumers. Means vehemently called out the magazine along with other critics, and the magazine eventually changed the title of the article. In the News Nation debate, Means said the diet of children is 70% processed foods.

Means said the money that would go to providing prescriptions of semaglutide medications to obese patients would be better spent on reforming the food supply in America. Dan Abrams, the host of the show, argued that reforming the food supply could be done alongside prescribing GLP-1 inhibitors for weight loss. He brought on two doctors that advocate for weight loss medications. 

Dr. Sue Decotiis, a medical weight loss doctor, said that many people are unable to lose weight despite having a healthy diet and lifestyle. She pointed to insulin resistance as the primary causal factor. “The carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity has been debunked,” Michaels chimed in. “To deny that it’s calories in calories out denies physics.” She went on to say that even if insulin resistance is the primary causal factor, the best way to counter that is through exercise.

Dr. Jonathan Kaplan said these drugs are the best thing since penicillin because they help to reverse the incidence of 13 obesity-related cancers, chronic kidney disease, fatty liver, and the progression of Parkinson’s, among other things. He then implied that Michaels and Means talk negatively about semaglutide medications because it is affecting their livelihood.

Means laughed, and Michaels smiled as she responded, “Are you the one that profits off of this? I think you’re the one who does.” She added that semaglutide doesn’t reverse chronic kidney disease, but slows the progression. She said exercise actually does reverse chronic kidney disease.

“This is a gold mine for the medical industry because it’s a lifetime recurring annuity,” Means said. “Novo Nordisk is one of the top funders of the American Academy of Diabetes and the American academy of Pediatrics. They have funded the research.”

Abrams cutoff Means to downplay the research funding connection to big pharma and asked, “Isn’t just about every drug that’s tested funded in some shape or form by big pharma?”

Means said “I would ask whether chronic disease pharmaceutical treatments have been effective. I would ask whether statins have lowered heart disease, whether metformins have lowered diabetes, whether SSRIs have lowered depression.”

The HighWire has reported about dangers, side effects, and the general ineffectiveness of the drugs Means mentioned to suggest that pharmaceutical companies are doing more harm than good. Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards wrote about the marketing scheme by Pfizer to sell more SSRI drugs despite the dangerous side effects.

Jeffery Jaxen reported on The HighWire in December about the harms caused by statins. Beanz and Edwards also wrote about a study that showed Oreos are twice as effective at lowering LDL cholesterol than statins.