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Jun. 18th, 2024 at 5:14 AM
McAfee’s Threat Research Team has described the problem of malicious websites, emails and texts, posts on social media, and marketplace listings used by scammers to capitalize on both high demand and high prices for semaglutide drugs that can help with weight loss. [Karnik A. How Ozempic scams put people’s finances and health at risk. McAfee Blog, June 12, 2024] McAfee researchers reported:
- 449 risky website URLs and 176,871 dangerous phishing attempts centered around Ozempic, Wegovy, and semaglutide
- scammers on Facebook impersonate doctors based outside of the U.S. and promise semaglutide drugs without a prescription
- there were 207 scam postings in just one day in April for Ozempic on Craigslist and similar marketplaces
- scammers offered drugs at too-good-to-be-true, deeply discounted prices
- scammers offered to accept payment through Bitcoin, Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App, which are nonstandard methods for prescription drug payment.
- scammers may fail to deliver drugs consumers paid for or may even deliver fakes. Examples include EpiPens loaded with allergy medication, insulin pens, or pens loaded with a saline solution
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Patients commonly discontinue semaglutide weight-loss treatmentAn analysis of nationally representative, commercial insurance data has found while prescriptions of semaglutide drugs for weight management have increased exponentially, many patients discontinued the drugs before achieving clinically meaningful weight loss. [Real-world trends in GLP-1 treatment persistence and prescribing for weight management. Blue Health Intelligencer Issue Brief, May 2024] Key findings include:
- about half the patients who received prescriptions stayed on treatment for a minimum of 12 weeks, enough time to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss
- 30% of patients discontinued treatment within four weeks, before reaching the targeted dose
- patients aged 35 and older were more likely to stay on GLP-1 treatment for at least 12 weeks
- patients who regularly visited their healthcare providers were more likely to stay on the drugs
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“Adaptogen” marketing debunkedYale University clinical neurologist Steven Novella, M.D., has noted the term “adaptogen” used in marketing some dietary supplements is vaguely defined and “just another marketing buzzword for snake oil products.” Claims made for adaptogens are akin to meaningless “structure-function” claims tolerated under the Dietary Supplement Health and Health Education Act (DSHEA) such as ”boosting the immune system,” “increasing energy," and “supporting a positive outlook.” Novella calls adaptogens “the same con with a new label.” [Novella S. What are “adaptogens”? Science-Based Medicine, June 5, 2024]
(from Dr. Barrett's Consumer Health Digest)
Comments
For five or six weeks, this persisted. I lost forty pounds just from not being able to eat. Then I remembered, cannabis gives you the munchies. It made it possible for me to eat almost normally. But losing all that weight so fast did weird things to my body. None of my existing clothes fit, and I had to try on sizes I'd outgrown to find things that fit. And somehow my shoe size got bigger. Now I wear a size Large shirt, not XXL. But everything I've heard about the miraculous weight-loss shots indicates to me that it's VERY VERY UNHEALTHY. (Interesting side note: they find that people who take those drugs lose their desire to drink alcohol. Can it be monkeying with the reward system?)