As anyone should have seen coming, the “miracle” weight loss drug semaglutide (sold as Ozempic) is now being aggressively marketed to fat kids in lieu of any actually effective interventions like physical movement or dietary changes.
Related: Diverse Fat Activist Gets Paid to Lie to Children About Nutrition for Corporate Profit
Via Reuters (emphasis added):
A small but rapidly growing number of U.S. adolescents began treatment with Novo Nordisk's <NOVOb.CO> weight-loss drug Wegovy last year, a powerful new tool to address record rates of pediatric obesity, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters.
In the first 10 months of 2023, 1,268 children ages 12 to 17 with an obesity diagnosis* started taking Wegovy, according to U.S. insurance claims data compiled by health technology company Komodo Health.
In 2022, only 25 children were prescribed the drug, which did not receive U.S. approval for adolescent use until December of that year. A month later, the influential American Academy of Pediatrics** recommended weight-loss drugs be offered to children with obesity starting at age 12.
*Note the language used: “obesity diagnosis,” as if one requires a doctor’s examination to determine that an individual is too fat. It is through these subtle, often unnoticed semantical tricks that the narrative is pushed subconsciously, which I have written about previously at PJ Media, that obesity is a medical condition and therefore best managed by the medical authorities with medication.
**Given its incentive structure, it should come as no surprise, of course, that the American Academy of Pediatrics is an enthusiastic booster of Ozempic for children.
Via Influence Watch (emphasis added):
In 2018, AAP reported $121,878,940 in revenue and $62,163,314 in net assets. More than half of its revenue came from its memberships, journals, and publications. The AAP also reported receiving $20.5 million in government grants and over $12.9 million in outside contributions. That same year, AAP reported $118,478,392 in expenses, including nearly $800,000 spent on legislative lobbying.
AAP gains a significant portion of its revenue through sponsorships at its conferences and frequent member events, though it has received criticism for its seemingly hypocritical sponsorship arrangements. In 2010, AAP hosted a conference which featured SweetSurprise.com, a corn-syrup promotion compony, as a sponsor, despite the fact that the AAP itself advocated against high fructose corn syrup and claimed that soda consumption was associated with higher rates of obesity.
The likes of Google and Bill Gates are among the top ten donors to the AAP. Also among its donor list is none other than Novo Nordisk itself, the manufacturer of Ozempic — the most brazen ethical breach possible, give the AAP’s stance on child medication.
Related: Doctor Warns of ANOTHER 'Alarming' Side Effect of 'Miracle' Weight Loss Drug
Continuing via Reuters:
Medicaid data obtained by Reuters from five states, including Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, show a similar uptick in use of Wegovy. The overall numbers remain small, with at least 464 children across the five states being prescribed the drug since January 2022.
That does not include prescriptions bought without health insurance, or off-label use of two similar treatments for type 2 diabetes, Ozempic from Novo and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly.
Even so, they are a drop in the bucket as nearly 20% of U.S. children, or about 14.7 million, have obesity, according to federal estimates.
