Anthony Anderson on the Weight Loss Drug Trend That's 'Creating a Shortage' for Diabetes Patients
Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty
Anthony Anderson is speaking out about the weight loss trend sweeping Hollywood and TikTok alike due to drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.
The Golden Globe nominee, 52, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2002, told PEOPLE that "hopefully this trend will stop" as he arrived Saturday at the 12th annual Big Game Big Give Event in Paradise Valley, Ariz., ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl LVII.
"I will say this, it's creating a shortage for those of us who need the medicine that we need and not for weight loss issues, but for our health," said Anderson.
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His comment comes as many have turned to semaglutide — a drug long marketed as Ozempic for Type 2 diabetes and recently approved as Wegovy to treat obesity — solely for the purpose of weight loss.
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Both drugs are listed on the FDA's website as "currently in shortage," and Dr. Caroline Apovian, co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told PEOPLE the trend is "taking away from patients with diabetes."
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"The Hollywood trend is concerning," she said. "We're not talking about stars who need to lose 10 pounds. We're talking about people who are dying of obesity, are going to die of obesity."
Dr. Apovian added: "We have lifesaving drugs… and the United States public that really needs these drugs can't get them."
RELATED VIDEO: What Is Ozempic Face? Doctors Explain the Side Effect of the Diabetes Drug
The drug also comes with several side effects, including an aged appearance known as "Ozempic face." Going off the drug can also cause "rebound weight gain, and it can really be devastating," Dr. Karla Robinson, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based family physician, told NPR.
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Anderson, the spokesperson for semaglutide distributor Novo Nordisk's "Get Real About Diabetes" campaign, said that he's "feeling great" in his own journey with diabetes and is focused on "just bringing awareness to all of these diseases that affect us all."
