Shame is not the name of the game, apparently.
Plastic surgeon to the stars Dr. Terry Dubrow is urging others not to “shame” those who take weight-loss drugs like Ozempic. as it can have serious consequences.
His declaration comes just a few weeks after he warned Ozempic patients of its potentially dangerous side effects.
“People have to stop making people feel bad about being on these drugs,” Dubrow told E! News in an interview published Tuesday. “Stop Ozempic shaming because it’s not nice.”
In an interview with The Post on Tuesday evening, the “Botched” star further stated that because there’s so much negativity surrounding the drug, it could potentially be hard for medical professionals to keep tabs on Ozempic’s potential risks and how it works because people may feel shamed into not talking about its side effects.
“Here’s the problem with Ozempic shaming: Nobody’s admitting to being on Ozempic because of it, because it’s embarrassing, right?” Dubrow told The Post.
“If you don’t admit it, if you don’t tell your doctor about it, and you go in the hospital and they don’t know, it’s delaying our understanding and appreciation for how to use it,” he continued.
Traditionally, Ozempic is a medication that has been used to treat Type 2 diabetes, but in recent months, it has skyrocketed in use as a weight-loss tool for some.
Ozempic and Wegovy are drugs that are made up of the peptide semaglutide, a derivative of GLP-1, a hormone derived from the small intestine.
This is the hormone that semaglutide mimics, and it makes you feel fuller for longer by slowing down digestion, which leads to weight loss.
Dubrow told The Post that although the FDA performs the basic studies to learn what the side effects are, doctors are really able to learn about new drugs once they’re out there.
But if no one is talking about it — and people are being shamed for taking it — that makes it harder for medical professionals to understand how to use and prescribe the medicine for weight loss.
“They’re going to be the biggest, most important drug breakthrough in the history of medicine because it’s going to solve obesity,” the plastic surgeon said.
But even though they are so important, they have serious side effects and are making some people “very, very sick.”
He pointed to patient cases involving pancreatitis — an inflammation of the pancreas —and even post-operative problems, as the drug’s delayed gastric emptying can affect anesthesia.
“The problem with Ozempic shaming is delaying our appreciation for the side effects, it’s not nice, it’s nobody’s business, and we’re not really learning how to use it,” he told The Post.
There have been a number of side effects reported by people who take the drug, including blurred vision and gallbladder problems, which is sounding the alarm for medics.
The Post recently reported that about 30% of Wegovy users have experienced diarrhea, including some who claim they’ve woken up in the middle of the night to discover that they’ve defecated in their sleep.
It’s also caused some strange after-effects for others, like “ozempic finger,” with weight loss affecting people’s ring and wrist sizes.
Some have even reported the dreaded “ozempic butt,” noticing a saggy derriere from all the pounds shed.
Following the July release of Lisa Marie Presley’s autopsy report, which revealed that the 54-year-old had passed in January due to a small bowel obstruction after bariatric surgery, Dubrow also urged weight loss experts in the medical community to pay more attention to the potential dangers from treatments like Ozempic.
Dubrow stressed to The Post that obesity is a disease and that it should be treated like any other.
“They’re taking this medication, not because they’re lazy, but because they have fat they want to lose,” Dubrow said.
“And, by the way, let’s clap if they’re on Ozempic. Let’s encourage them to get the weight off, and let’s learn how to use this drug,” he added.
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