LETTER FROM MONTREAL
Summer McIntosh (swimming), Ethan Katzberg (hammer throw) and Andre De Grasse (4 x 100 m relay)... Like many countries around the world, Canada was captivated by the Olympic Games this summer. In the media and online, commentators could not stop admiring the exploits of the athletes and the decorum of the host city, Paris. With a total of 27 medals – nine of them gold – Canada came 12th in the Olympic Games. At the end of the Paralympic Games on September 8, Canada was once again in 12th place in the sporting competition, winning a total of 29 medals, including 10 gold.
But beyond the passion stirred up by the Games, it was the state-owned Radio-Canada, the official broadcaster of the sporting event, that came under fire from critics when Ozempic was listed as one of its official sponsors for the Olympics. The most media-savvy anti-diabetic drug reappropriated for weight loss was listed alongside Petro-Canada, Hydro-Québec and Toyota. "Is Ozempic right for you? Ask your doctor," proclaimed the ad.
In a column published at the end of July in Le Journal de Montréal – "Les Jeux Ozempic d'été" (Summer Ozempic Games) – Mario Dumont, a well-known host and commentator in Quebec, expressed his "unease" at "a true association between the state-owned corporation and the manufacturer of Ozempic." The former MP concluded his opinion piece by stating that he "[doesn't] think it's the idea of the century to associate a global, unifying sporting event with the 'miracle' drug of the moment." The drug in question continues to attract criticism.
Worrisome side effects
Marketed by pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, Ozempic was approved by Health Canada in 2018 and is available for sale by prescription. The treatment has grown in popularity after notably being touted as an appetite suppressant by influencers. There's such a craze in Canada that it causes intermittent shortages, the last of which lasted until early 2024. The same drug has been approved for weight loss since May 2023 by Health Canada under the name Wegovy for patients with a medical diagnosis of obesity.
But Ozempic's list of side effects is worrying the medical world. In October 2023, researchers at the University of British Columbia published the first epidemiological study showing a link between weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, and severe gastrointestinal disorders: pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, bile duct diseases and gastroparesis (a delay in the passage of food from the stomach to the small intestine). At the beginning of July, another study conducted by researchers at Harvard concluded that appetite suppressants, like the two Novo Nordisk products, can cause severe and permanent visual impairment, even blindness.
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