A deep dive into the science and the effects – good and bad – of the controversial drug Ozempic and other weight loss injection
60 Minutes Australia
Is it the reality that Ozempic and similar drugs are risky, even deadly?
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Synopsis | Reshaping the World (2024)
Blame it on our success as a wealthy western nation, but we live with an enormous problem. Our size. Too many Australians are too big. Everyone knows excess weight is bad for our health, but battling the bulge is a fight too few of us win. And that’s the reason drugs like Ozempic are in such demand. They promise a quick fix to losing kilos, even though they’re not designed as weight-loss remedies. But as Dimity Clancey reports, users need to be very cautious. The Ozempic hype is starting to wither, replaced with the reality that it and similar drugs are risky, even deadly.
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ABOUT 60 Minutes Australia
For over forty years, 60 Minutes Australia have been telling Australians the world’s greatest stories. Tales that changed history, our nation and our lives. Reporters Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Amelia Adams, Adam Hegarty, Dimity Clancey and Nick McKenzie look past the headlines because there is always a bigger picture. Sundays are for 60 Minutes Australia.
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0:00this is our snow room it is one of my
0:03favorite how much weight did you lose 25
0:06kilos the Allure is lifechanging weight
0:09loss one word game changer this is
0:12transformational medicine but does it
0:14come with life ending risk he was only
0:17on it for 19 days I can’t accept that
0:19someone can just stop
0:23living on 60 Minutes the breakr to treat
0:27Parkinson’s drug addiction early onset
0:29ALS ERS the drugs reshaping the world
0:33are these drugs safe we don’t leave
0:35matches in the hands of children has to
0:36be supervised so how far would you go
0:39why are we risking Our Lives to be thin
0:42is a recall something you’re
0:47considering blame it on our success as a
0:49wealthy Western Nation but we live with
0:52an enormous problem our size too many
0:55Australians are too big everyone knows
0:58excess weight is is bad for our health
1:01but battling the Bulge is a fight too
1:03few of us win and that’s the reason
1:06drugs like OIC are so in demand they
1:09promise a quick fix to losing kilos even
1:13though they’re not designed as weight
1:15loss remedies but users beware the OIC
1:19hype is starting to wither replaced with
1:21the reality that it and similar drugs
1:24are very risky even
1:28deadly
1:32for much of her life growing up
1:33debilitating pain was Shannon Natalia’s
1:36unwelcome but constant companion it was
1:39an Agony made worse by not knowing what
1:42caused it or how to fix it it feels like
1:46you are in a wet
1:49suit and fill the inside of the wet suit
1:52with like just sludge and heavy heavy
1:56sand and then you’re having to walk
1:59around found in that wet suit and it’s
2:02just strapped to your
2:05legs after years of scratching their
2:08heads in 2020 doctors finally diagnosed
2:11Shannon with lipedema an incurable
2:14disease that had produced an abnormal
2:17buildup of fat in her lower body at
2:20first pain management was
2:24limited there’s everything here that you
2:26could even think of to be honest the gym
2:28and cold therapy recovery sessions
2:31provided minor relief so this is our
2:33snow room it is one of my favorite
2:36components to use for pain
2:38management okay so this is the Himalayan
2:41rock salt room but then Shannon’s GP
2:43prescribed injections of
2:46OIC I felt normal all of a
2:50sudden my inflammation was gone my pain
2:54was gone all because of OIC nothing had
2:57made the
2:58impact that that
3:02made OIC had originally been developed
3:05to treat diabetes but when it became
3:08known a side effect of the drug was
3:10rapid weight loss its popularity
3:12exploded I wanted to show you guys that
3:14everyone starts somewhere even if you’re
3:16starting back somewhere Shannon is proof
3:19it’s effective her transformation was
3:22amazing and not only did her pain
3:25disappear so did the excess kilos
3:28lipedema had cruy inflicted how much
3:31weight did you
3:33lose 25
3:36kilos lipedema is now one of many
3:39conditions scientists believe could be
3:40treated successfully with medications
3:43like
3:44OIC and with a mass of enthusiastic
3:46spooking from social and mainstream
3:49media it’s no surprise these products
3:52have taken on the label of Wonder drugs
3:55drugs like OIC may also help curb drug
3:58addiction o zic could help people with
4:01early onset Alzheimer’s if you could use
4:04it for all these applications it would
4:06truly be a miracle
4:08drug I liken this to when the te Ford
4:13was first um invented and suddenly we
4:17had changes in
4:18transportation and the horse and cart
4:21went
4:22out professor of medicine and
4:25endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital
4:27Dr Katherine zaris is Blown Away by the
4:30potential of drugs like
4:32OIC have you ever seen a drug explode
4:36around the world the way o empad not
4:39really when I think back at other points
4:42in medical history probably the
4:45introduction of penicillin has been as
4:48transformative so this is it’s a game
4:52Cher incredible yes but by no means a
4:57miracle in the making while OIC and a
4:59number of similar weight loss injections
5:02come with promise they also bring risk a
5:06g
5:07drug Roy Webster is convinced about the
5:10cause of his wife’s death 12 months ago
5:14Trish Webster had been taking an OIC
5:17like medication called sax sender to
5:20lose a few kilos because she wanted to
5:22look her best at her daughter’s wedding
5:25she shouldn’t be gone you know I don’t
5:26think she should be gone she didn’t
5:28deserve that
5:30Trish was thought to be the first
5:31Australian Death linked to these weight
5:34loss
5:35injections but after 60 Minutes reported
5:38it late last year more families
5:41contacted us with similar
5:43stories how did he feel about his weight
5:46he used to joke that you know you needed
5:48a big carcass to carry around a big
5:50heart but he wanted to be healthy he
5:53wanted to live a long life and
5:57now I can carry his ashes around in one
6:01hand Sue and Elise Ramsey want
6:05answers they want to know why 18 months
6:08ago their much-loved husband and Dad Tim
6:12died after taking injections of sax
6:15sender what made him decide he wanted to
6:18lose weight I think it was um the
6:21prospect of um maybe walking at least
6:25down the aisle that he thought I do need
6:28to lose weight
6:31Tim was a trucky it was a job that made
6:34exercise and eating well difficult so
6:37when the 58-year-old decided to try sax
6:40sender to lose weight Sue thought it was
6:43worth a try so Tim went to the GP and
6:46asked for
6:48it y she gave him the script and said it
6:52will be good for all aspects of your
6:55life it it will protect protect all your
7:00organs
7:02and so that’s when he thought yep that
7:05sounds good to
7:07me Tim was confident the injections
7:10would work but after only 19 days
7:14something was clearly
7:17wrong here the truck would you be a to
7:20come down and take hospital please thank
7:23you when Elise received this voicemail
7:26you can hear the desperation in his
7:28voice it doesn’t sound like
7:31him that’s not his voice she rushed him
7:34to
7:35hospital Tim was complaining of severe
7:38stomach pain but after a series of tests
7:41the doctors couldn’t find anything a
7:43Miss did you mention to the doctors that
7:47he was taking sxender yes and I asked if
7:50that would was um bit problematic for
7:54his other medication and he said no that
7:57would be fine so really there was
8:00nothing more they said about the sex
8:03sender they just sent him home the
8:06following night Tim’s pain got worse he
8:10collapsed in the bathroom at home 40
8:13minutes of CPR couldn’t save
8:19him last November 14 months after he
8:22died a coroner ruled Tim’s cause of
8:25death was
8:27undetermined but Sue says that doesn’t
8:29make sense I don’t believe that anybody
8:34should die without an explanation there
8:37has got to be you just don’t expire
8:41there has got to be a reason for Tim’s
8:44death and so I think that’s when we
8:47really really thought maybe the sex
8:49Ender had a lot to do with it
8:55[Music]
8:56yeah you just do not expect to find your
9:00daughter on her knees in front of the
9:03toilet ball
9:07dead Leoni margets knows the distress
9:11Sue and Elise Ramsey feel her
9:1439-year-old daughter Naomi Rooney died
9:17in June 2022 after taking OIC
9:22injections Naomi was desperate to be a
9:24mom and had been told she needed to lose
9:27weight to have any chance of falling
9:30pregnant she was very aware of turning
9:3340 and her options of being a m were
9:36they were running
9:37out as an experienced nurse Naomi had an
9:41expert knowledge of drugs and their side
9:44effects but even so something tragic
9:47happened after she started using the
9:51zic my first thought through my head was
9:53this cannot be happening this cannot be
9:55happening this cannot be real but things
9:58just happen so quickly and then it was
10:01an awful awful tussle to wrestle her out
10:04of the out of the toilet and to get her
10:07onto the floor to try and do
10:10CPR yeah and she never regained
10:13Consciousness no now when a partner um
10:16picked her up he said straight away that
10:19she was blue around her mouth and
10:21there’s nothing that I can do to erase
10:23that
10:25image Leon is angry at the ease in which
10:28her daughter Gotto zenic she bought it
10:31online after filling out a simple
10:33questionnaire and having a telephone
10:35consultation with a
10:37Doctor Naomi Rooney and Tim Ramsay’s
10:40deaths are now both being investigated
10:43by Australia’s drug regulator the
10:45therapeutic Goods
10:47Administration but their families want
10:50more they’re demanding the TGA make
10:53doctors do more to ensure their patients
10:56use drugs like OIC safely why can’t you
10:59give them more than guidance why can’t
11:01you tell them don’t do
11:07it Ashley Keenan was the perfect patient
11:10to be prescribed OIC the Canadian has
11:13diabetes and is
11:15overweight but the drug that was
11:17supposed to save her life almost killed
11:21her I was only on OIC for about 4 months
11:24when I ended up in the ICU an intensive
11:28care unit for 10 days I nearly
11:31died Ashley suffered what’s now emerging
11:34as a serious concern a severe
11:37gastrointestinal reaction to the drug
11:40the doctors told me it was what they
11:42call a perfect storm the side effects of
11:44the OIC gave me pancreatitis the
11:47pancreatitis caused me to vomit
11:50uncontrollably I actually remember one
11:53of the ER doctors telling me that he
11:56roped in every specialist that he could
11:58so so that he could try to save my life
12:01despite her near-death experience OIC
12:04had been doing what it’s become famous
12:06for Ashley was losing the
12:09kilos but when she stopped taking the
12:12drug and returned home from hospital she
12:15quickly put weight back on what she did
12:18next was
12:21confounding I’m quite ashamed of this at
12:23one point I actually went back on OIC
12:26because I hated how much weight I had re
12:28gained and my doctors gave it to me they
12:32they said okay well we’re going to
12:34monitor you more closely this time and
12:37after two months I had pancreatitis
12:40again it made me realize like okay this
12:43medication is harmful doesn’t that show
12:46the power of this drug though even
12:48though you nearly died you went back for
12:50more I know it’s it’s not something I’m
12:53proud of um but it did really open my
12:56eyes to how I I thought about myself and
13:00my
13:02body Ashley’s experience is what Dr
13:05Mahia etan has been researching at the
13:08University of British
13:11Columbia he’s been studying the
13:14increased prevalence of gastrointestinal
13:16issues in people taking AIC and similar
13:19drugs for weight loss what he found
13:22worries him we looked at the risk of for
13:27um gastrointestinal
13:29type conditions and I can say on average
13:32there was an added increase in risk of
13:35around 5% in absolute terms why were
13:39these findings concerning to you Doctor
13:42because although the
13:4305% uh on the surface may not seem like
13:47a large number when we consider that
13:49millions of people around the world are
13:51taking these drugs it could translate
13:54into a relatively uh large number of
13:57people affected
14:00in fact Dr etan calculates the current
14:03OIC craze means several hundred, people
14:07could be suffering potentially deadly
14:09side effects but back in Australia
14:12Professor Katherine zarus says the risks
14:14can be mitigated with proper medical
14:17care doctor are these drugs safe used
14:21appropriately cautiously Guided by
14:23experts these drugs are very safe
14:26currently OIC is only approved by the T
14:28GA to treat diabetes it’s no secret that
14:32drugs like OIC are landing in the hands
14:35of people who shouldn’t be on it why do
14:37we need to be cautious we need to be
14:39cautious because these drugs have
14:40adverse effects and these adverse
14:43effects can be really very severe but
14:46this can be prevented but you have to be
14:49advised how to do that and a handout and
14:52an internet consultation is not enough
14:54one needs to see an expert these can be
14:56dangerous drugs if they’re left in the
14:59hands of people we don’t leave matches
15:01in the hands of children we shouldn’t
15:03leave these drugs in the hand hands of
15:04people it has to be
15:07[Music]
15:08supervised and the benefit of these
15:10drugs I don’t think should be overlooked
15:13but they’re not the Silver Bullet for
15:16weight loss Professor Robin langum is
15:19the chief medical advisor at the
15:21therapeutic Goods
15:23Administration one of her roles is to
15:25investigate adverse outcomes associated
15:28with pharmaceutical drug
15:30use she’s well aware of the tragic cases
15:33of Trish Webster Tim Ramsey and Naomi
15:38Rooney but is guarded about whether
15:40their deaths could impact the use of OIC
15:43like drugs in Australia clearly anytime
15:46anybody loses a loved one in association
15:49with a drug that they’ve been prescribed
15:52or a device that have they’ve been using
15:54is just absolutely devastating and you
15:57know we really feel a responsibility
16:00every death that’s reported to us is
16:02investigated and if we do see that
16:04there’s a need to change the messaging
16:06with the drug the information that goes
16:08with the drug or even in some cases to
16:10withdraw the drug then we have the power
16:11to do so is a recall something you’re
16:13considering a recall is a very serious
16:16decision that we’d make and only done
16:18when the risks are completely
16:19outweighing the benefits of these drugs
16:23determining that will take time but more
16:26immediately Professor langum warns of
16:28another danger at present GPS should
16:32only prescribe OIC for the treatment of
16:35diabetes not weight loss but the reality
16:39is many doctors are simply ignoring the
16:42guidelines our guidance to doctors is
16:46that they focus the use of the limited
16:49amount of asmic that’s in the country
16:51that they focus the use of that OIC on
16:53patients that have type 2 diabetes why
16:55can’t you give them more than guidance
16:57why can’t you tell them don’t do it our
16:59work is is uh guided very much by the
17:02legislation that we have and we don’t
17:04have the powers to uh mandate it’s less
17:08than one 1% of people who have these
17:12adverse effects but that’s still
17:13somebody’s dad it’s still somebody’s
17:16sister it’s still somebody’s loved one
17:18absolutely absolutely it’s a very
17:21serious and and uh and very tragic
17:24problem for the families that are
17:25concerned and uh we don’t wish to
17:27minimize that at all
17:29but there’s yet another frustration
17:32faced by the
17:33TGA the success of OIC for weight loss
17:37has caused a worldwide shortage of the
17:39product and that’s led to a growing
17:42practice by pharmacists to make their
17:44own versions of the drug for patients
17:48that are receiving compounded
17:50semaglutide type products this is not a
17:53zic this is not the drug that has been
17:57uh extensively evaluated and tested and
18:00approved uh for its safety and uh its
18:07efficacy it’s a dilemma what to do about
18:10the use of OIC and drugs like it for
18:13weight
18:14loss Shannon Natalia is convinced they
18:18work the families of Tim Ramsey and
18:21Naomi Rooney say
18:23otherwise for many of us the desire to
18:26be thinner is over helming but at what
18:31cost what’s your warning to people who
18:34would be watching this and they know
18:37they shouldn’t be on it I don’t think
18:38people who want to fit into a frock for
18:41their school reunion uh or look good on
18:44their social media should be using this
18:47I think that that’s a complete waste of
18:49time and dangerous and preventing people
18:51who need the drug from accessing it
18:55hello I’m Emelia Adams thanks for
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