Is the clock ticking for Ireland to be riddled with an Ozempic misusage epidemic? And, more importantly, are we ready to handle one?
The global rise of the popular weight loss drug and the potential creation of a new manufacturing hub here in Ireland has been celebrated by many, but what about the growing red flags around its misuse that we’ve seen?
Springing recently to its prime on a global scale by the drug’s success in helping patients manage relevant diseases, it has also sparked a concerning whirlwind in demand from the ordinary non-disease sufferer for casual weight loss, thanks to high-profile endorsing celebrities in the media such as Elon Musk and the Kardashians.
Ozempic is licensed for prescription in Ireland to treat cases of type-2 diabetes and off-label for obesity.
This is the case with many other European countries as the drug is approved for medical purposes by the European Medicines Agency, yet countries such as Austria, France, Greece, and more have taken a more cautious approach by imposing bans and restrictions.
As recently as October 2023, worrying reports from the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) emerged that there had been a stark increase in the illegal purchase and seizing of falsified anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
In the same month, the HSE issued a warning to GPs in breach of ‘actively advertising’ the drug via prescriptions to patients without diabetes resulting in pharmacy shortages.
People have been dying to stay thin for years, and now that they’ve found a way, are there means to stop them?
When there’s a weight loss product or beauty craze, despite the best efforts or controls, there’s always a way for people to get their hands on them, at whatever cost.
For the person desperately trying to treat their diabetes, Ozempic may save their lives.
Meanwhile, for the healthy person unnecessarily wanting to shed a few pounds, it may destroy theirs.
Medical professionals have warned about the lack of long-term data and research about side effects related to the usage of the drug for non-disease-related reasons and have reiterated its original, contextual and approved usage.
Carel le Roux, an obesity physician at University College Dublin, co-authored a paper published in 2022 studying the effects of a similar semaglutide weight loss injectable drug which concluded: “The drug may be so effective that the role of nutritional therapy may have to be redefined, and a shift away from using nutritional therapy to achieve more weight loss to rather using nutritional therapy to achieve more health gain may be required.”
With widespread global and national red flags already raised, an inevitable growing demand in usage and a potential new international hub for the drug being built in Dublin as a backdrop to all of this, it may already be beyond the time to start raising regulatory conversations about the future of the drug and its place in Ireland.
Eve Moore
Dublin, via email
Trump’s gold
Donald Trump lost his well-paying job as US president and, at present, is not able to run a business in New York, so he has become a travelling salesperson, selling not a golden ticket but $399 golden runners.
Given that he currently has fines of $83.3m (€77.13m) and $354.8m, or a total of about $438m, he does need to find a new source of income.
I am sure his boys will pay their own fines, and as they will all pay immediately, interest won’t be a problem.
A simple piece of maths shows that’s more than a million pairs of runners.
I hope he has plenty of room in his car boot.
An interesting piece of fake news has already arisen in that they have sold out immediately, but if there were only a small number available, then the Maga team would have grabbed them straight away to show their complete support.
A simple Economics 101 strategy to generate demand.
Maybe it’s time to reflect on the words of Shakespeare: “All that glisters is not gold.”
Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne
Australia
Crippling costs of doing business
Regarding Cianan Brennan’s article — ‘‘It feels I’m working for nothing’: Cafe owner calls on Government to help struggling businesses’ ( Irish Examiner online, February 16).
I have to wholeheartedly agree with this article.
I have a coffee shop in Athenry.
Looking from the outside you would imagine we are doing great.
We are busy all week, we are taking more money than ever.
But costs are through the roof.
We just had a meeting with our senior staff and showed them our costs versus income.
We are just breaking even but that’s without paying me anything.
In fact, I haven’t been paid since March last year.
Our staff costs gave risen by nearly €1,000 per week since this time last year.
Electricity used to be €1,200 for a two-month period but now we’re paying €1,200 per month as we pay the current bill and what is overdue.
The Vat rate has increased and although on the surface it looks like a small rise from 9% to 13.5%, that’s a 50% increase when small businesses were still trying to recover from covid.
Our input costs of ingredients have increased by up to 50% — eg, we were buying a 10kg box of chips for €12.50 two years ago, the same box now costs €18.90 — an increase of just over 50%.
The rate of inflation has decreased, but prices are still rising at a lower rate.
I have 10 people working for me who all need their job but it’s getting harder and harder to keep going.
Matthew Galbraith
Athenry
Galway
Reasons to reject care amendment
The care amendment referendum places care as the responsibility (or “burden” as the wording implies) on the family.
The wording “strives to support”, deliberately ignores the rights-based language recommended by the citizens’ assembly.
The wording is very carefully chosen to indemnify the State against any legal obligation to provide supports to people with disabilities and carers as a right.
It aligns perfectly with the State’s behaviour and actions in how it treats people in need of care.
The wording is paternalistic and is toxic to the rights of people with disabilities and carers.
And yet so many NGOs and political parties, that I believe take rights seriously, are settling for this.
And many are not just settling but enthusiastically supporting the amendment.
They are meant to be holding the Government to account.
They are meant to be asking why the Government is not using the wording recommended by the citizens’ assembly.
Instead they are supporting the Government to pass this amendment that may sound progressive, and cosmetically better, but is only symbolic in nature and is demeaning to people in need of care.
Surely, we should not settle for this and demand better.
The amendment does real harm to a rights-based approach.
It does harm as there is no substantive change and, if this amendment is passed, we will be stuck with this wording.
It is a massive missed opportunity to further a rights-based approach to supporting some of the most vulnerable in our society.
And it demeans people in need of care.
The current wording is so outdated that there is every likelihood we could have a second referendum, within the lifetime of the next government, reflecting the wording proposed by the citizens’ assembly.
We could have wording that is both symbolic and meaningful.
Wording that respects the rights and autonomy of people who need care to thrive.
Wording that we could hold the state to account over.
Something of real substance and value.
If this referendum on care passes that will be the day the campaign begins to replace this woefully ableist, paternalistic, and degrading wording.
Hopefully it won’t take 87 years to change.
I wish we as a society demand better. Reject and reword with rights and respect for the dignity and autonomy of people with disabilities.
Constitutions are aspirational in nature. Let’s aspire then to wording in our Constitution that enables, and supports people’s rights.
Let’s not settle for wording that may appear progressive, and cosmetically better, but does not make any difference of substance, harms the rights-based approach and allows the State of the hook.
Let’s ensure the State finally takes rights and government’s responsibilities to carers and people with disabilities seriously.
Anthony Hannon
Tallaght
Dublin 24
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