Oprah Winfrey's interview shines spotlight on weight-loss drugs, but experts warn "not a magic bullet"
BOSTON – The popular weight-loss drug Ozempic is getting another public push after Oprah Winfrey admitted to using weight-loss medication in a recent interview with People magazine.
Though Winfrey wasn't specific about which drug she uses, the demand for Ozempic is high nationwide.
Winfrey is a television titan, entrepreneur and movie maker most recently promoting the Christmas release of The Color Purple. But that's not all her public life promotes.
"I don't know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine," said Winfrey in the interview, admitting she is now taking weight-loss drugs after struggling for decades, even using social media to combat the stigma with help from Mass General Brigham Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford.
"She gave a nod to anti-obesity medication. They upregulate the pathway of the brain to eat less and store less," said Stanford, an obesity medicine physician at Mass General Brigham.
Though Winfrey didn't confirm which weight-loss drug she takes, Stanford said Ozempic is a popular choice meant to support diabetics and lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. But experts say the drug is flying off the shelves into the hands of people who may not need it.
"If my patients were here to talk to you, they would talk about the dire shortage of having to call multiple pharmacies throughout a 200-mile radius to get these medications," Stanford said.
KDR Medspa & Wellness in Newton supplies a weight-loss supplement using compounds of Ozempic to avoid supply chain issues.
"We get it through a compound pharmacy, we mix it with B-12. It's not taking it from prescription medication," said Kathryn Russo of KDR Medspa & Wellness.
But experts are concerned the desire for Ozempic may be ill-informed.
"Some common side effects, nausea vomiting, GI side effects like abdominal pain," Stanford said.
What medical professionals told WBZ-TV both at the Medspa in Newton and at Mass General Brigham is if you choose to take Ozempic-like products, you may have to take them for life.
"They think 'Hey, I'm going to go on medication, go off medication' and they see rebound in weight. We will start to see those issues reemerge. These are one tool in the tool kit to solve obesity; these are not a magic bullet," Stanford.
