by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola:
Story at-a-glance
- Ozempic, a diabetes drug now used for weight loss, is part of a massive fraud that could harm millions, especially children, by treating obesity without addressing its root causes
- The obesity epidemic is driven in part by ultraprocessed foods designed to override natural satiety mechanisms, not by a lack of weight loss drugs like Ozempic
- The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act could mandate government coverage for obesity medications for 74% of Americans, costing over $3 trillion annually without addressing underlying health issues
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- Ozempic’s maker, Novo Nordisk, has become a top lobbying spender in the U.S., pushing for expanded drug coverage while downplaying significant side effects like muscle loss, suicidal thoughts and increased cancer risk
- Naturally increasing GLP-1 levels through gut bacteria like Akkermansia muciniphila offers an alternative to Ozempic, promoting overall gut health without the risks associated with long-term pharmaceutical use
The rise of Ozempic and similar drugs for weight loss involves fraud of unprecedented scale that could have devastating consequences for millions of Americans, especially children. Ozempic, a drug initially developed for diabetes, has become a sensation for weight loss. Its popularity has skyrocketed, with everyone from celebrities to college students clamoring for prescriptions — but at what cost?
The active ingredient in Ozempic is part of a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists. These drugs stimulate hormones in your digestive system that signal fullness. While this makes it easier for people to eat less and lose weight, the reality is far more complex and concerning.
The Toxic Food Environment — And Profit Motives — Driving Obesity
To understand why drugs like Ozempic are not the answer, we need to look at the root cause of our obesity epidemic. As Dr. Casey Means, a surgeon who graduated from Stanford Medical School, says on The Tucker Carlson Show:1
“We are … the only species in the world that has a chronic disease and obesity epidemic because of ultraprocessed food. You think about every other animal in the wild. They’re eating real natural foods except for domesticated animals, which are also getting chronic diseases just like humans because they’re eating our food. But every other animal, they’re able to regulate their satiety. They’re not eating themselves to death like we are.
We’re literally eating ourselves to death. The reason is because these foods … with the cigarette companies and the scientists moving to create addictive processed foods, they are designed to subvert our satiety mechanisms like GLP-1 secretion, so that we never know that we’re full.
But if we were eating whole real food, we would cue the exquisite satiety mechanisms in our bodies and we would not overeat. If you’re eating real, whole, unprocessed, nutrient-rich foods, we have receptors in our gut that make us feel full.”
This is an important point. Our bodies have natural mechanisms to regulate hunger and fullness. But the ultraprocessed foods that dominate the U.S. diet are specifically designed to override these systems. They’re engineered to be addictive, just like cigarettes were.
So, why push drugs instead of addressing our toxic food environment? Follow the money. Means says:2
“This could be on track to be the most profitable medication ever in human history. It will be if the powers that be let it. And the unfortunate part is that it doesn’t take our bodies out of the toxic stew that’s crushing our biology. Yes, we may melt some fat, but we’re essentially creating starvation to melt fat and muscle … So, this is not the public health solution.”
The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act: A Trojan Horse for Big Pharma?
In the video above, Means mentions a crucial piece of legislation: H.R. 4818, which is the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act.3 This bill, on the surface, appears to be a well-intentioned effort to address America’s obesity epidemic. However, Means reveals a more concerning reality:4
“There’s one line that’s all that matters in that, which is that they want to expand Medicare access to include coverage for these obesity medications … for people who are overweight and obese. That is 74% of the American population.”
The implications of this bill are staggering. If passed, it would essentially mandate government coverage for obesity medications like Ozempic for nearly three-quarters of Americans. Means warns of the potential financial impact:5
“If this bill goes through and everyone who is eligible for this drug gets it paid by taxpayers, that will represent over $3 trillion per year in drugs to the American people, without changing any of the root causes of what is making us sick.”
The scale of this potential profit is hard to overstate. Medicaid spending on metabolic disorders is already enormous: “Medicaid is spending more on mitochondrial dysfunction than the entire U.S. defense budget and growing much faster.” This spending is primarily driven by “preventable metabolic chronic conditions,” showing that pharmaceutical companies are exploiting a health crisis that could be addressed through other means.
This legislation could funnel an enormous amount of taxpayer money to pharmaceutical companies, particularly benefiting the Scandinavian company, Novo Nordisk, that produces Ozempic and Wegovy.
