Rise of Ozempic ads in Canada raising concern. What are the risks? | 24CA News
With advertisements popping up on TV, social media, large billboards and at skilled sports activities video games, Canadians could also be feeling bombarded by advertising for Ozempic and sister drug Rybelsus.
Some have taken to social media to doc their most exceptional sightings, together with Ozempic and Rybelsus advertisements wrapping total streetcars and encircling the sector at Toronto Blue Jays baseball video games.
Both drugs are semaglutide medicine manufactured by Novo Nordisk – Ozempic is the injectable type and Rybelsus is the capsule type. They’re accepted in Canada for treating Type 2 diabetes and infrequently prescribed off-label to deal with weight problems.
But some docs and medical ethics specialists say the advertising marketing campaign is simply too aggressive. They fear that such intense saturation of promoting may result in strain on docs to prescribe Ozempic to sufferers who don’t really want it, resulting in shortages for many who do.
They additionally fear that critical potential side-effects equivalent to pancreatitis and gallbladder irritation, though uncommon, may begin to seem as a result of sheer quantity of individuals taking the drug.
“What the (company is) trying to do is to put the ads in so many places that it’s very difficult to avoid seeing them,” mentioned Dr. Joel Lexchin, a professor emeritus at York University who research pharmaceutical coverage.
Health Canada permits pharmaceutical firms to run “reminder ads,” Lexchin mentioned. Advertisements can say the title of the drug however they will’t say what circumstances it treats. Instead, they urge folks to ask their docs in regards to the drug.
Kate Hanna, a spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk’s Canadian arm, advised The Canadian Press on Monday that the nationwide advertising marketing campaign is geared toward folks with Type 2 diabetes.
“Diabetes is not being effectively managed and this is not a niche market. Diabetes is a public health crisis,” Hanna mentioned.
“There really is a need to educate Canadians on Type 2 diabetes risk and support those living with the condition to engage their health-care professional for optimal disease care.”
But the advertising inflow comes on the heels of an explosion of unofficial Ozempic promotion for weight reduction from social media influencers and celebrities. Canadian docs and pharmacists have already confirmed an infinite enhance in sufferers asking for the drug for that function.
The ever-present reminder advertisements are prone to immediate extra folks desirous to shed weight to place strain on their docs to prescribe Ozempic, though they don’t have diabetes or meet the scientific standards for weight problems, Lexchin mentioned.
“It’s not approved for treating somebody who wants to lose 10 or 15 pounds so that they can fit into a bathing suit or a tuxedo or what have you. But the ads that you’re seeing don’t tell you that,” he mentioned.
“You’ve tried to lose weight, you figure if you can get from 180 to 160 (pounds) you’ll be in much better shape,” Lexchin mentioned. “You see one of these ads and you go see your doctor. And that’s what this kind of advertising is designed to do.”
Even diabetes and weight problems specialists who reward Ozempic for its effectiveness in treating these circumstances are frightened about Novo Nordisk’s advertising technique.
“I’m not impressed,” mentioned Dr. Ehud Ur, an endocrinologist at St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital.
Ur famous that he has been concerned with Novo Nordisk for “many different drugs” and that he’s personally discovered the corporate’s practices to be moral.
But “the push to get everybody and their dog on Ozempic” is problematic, he mentioned.
“We’ve never had a drug as good as Ozempic. But on the other hand we’ve never had so much interest and so much pressure on people to prescribe it,” Ur mentioned.
Like with all prescribed drugs, docs must do a threat versus profit evaluation, he mentioned.
According to the producer’s web site, minor side-effects embody nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and stomach ache. More critical however uncommon dangers embody irritation of the pancreas, gallbladder issues, kidney points and low blood sugar. Animal research discovered an affiliation between Ozempic and thyroid tumours in rats, nevertheless it’s not clear whether or not that’s an actual threat in people.
For somebody with diabetes or weight problems, the dangers of not getting efficient remedy usually outweigh the uncommon potential dangers related to Ozempic, Ur mentioned.
But for somebody who desires to lose 10 to twenty kilos for “cosmetic” causes, the medical profit is probably not definitely worth the threat.
“Where you are placed in that continuum of risk is really an important calculation for a physician,” Ur mentioned.
The downside with the mass Ozempic promoting marketing campaign is that it cultivates an impression amongst those who it’s a “wonder drug that’s going to help them lose weight,” he mentioned.
If they persuade their physician to prescribe it, these sufferers “are now going to expose themselves to the risk of a medical intervention without a huge amount of medical benefit.”
Huge demand for Ozempic may additionally create shortages for sufferers who depend on it for diabetes management, Ur mentioned, noting he has sufferers who’ve already had bother with the drug being on again order.
When requested to reply to that concern, Hanna of Novo Nordisk mentioned the corporate is “ramping up our production to meet the demands.” She additionally mentioned there are not any present shortages in Canada.
Another situation, Ur mentioned, is that mathematically, the extra individuals who take the drug, the extra possible it’s that somebody will undergo one of many uncommon side-effects.
“I think ultimately (Novo Nordisk) may be shooting themselves in the foot by this strategy,” Ur mentioned.
Despite the criticisms, the corporate’s Ozempic advertising marketing campaign complies with Canadian legislation, Health Canada mentioned in an e mail on Monday.
“To date, (Health Canada) has assessed 30 complaints. The current advertisements of Ozempic that have been reviewed are deemed compliant with the current advertising provisions in Canada,” the e-mail mentioned.
Both Lexchin and Ur mentioned Canada shouldn’t permit any direct-to-consumer promoting for pharmaceuticals, much like laws within the U.Okay. and Europe.
Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist on the University of Toronto, mentioned he finds the corporate’s promoting blitz “disturbing.”
“They’re taking advantage of Canadian law because they’re staying within the parameters of it, but not the spirit of it because, you know, the saturation of these ads is incredible,” Bowman mentioned.
“This is not about public health, this is not about well-being. This is about marketing and it is very, very much for profit. And so there’s no question about that.”
