So this is it.
The other day, I received a pregnant woman at the doctor’s office, she did not present anything very bad, a small viral syndrome, but taking into account her pregnancy, I am a little limited on the therapeutic level.
So I prescribe paracetamol, a drug that is both safe for her and her baby.
She cringes, looks worried, then she says to me:
“I’m a little scared Doctor, the other day I saw a video on TikTok of a woman saying that taking paracetamol during pregnancy can feminize the fetus. »
I ask her to elaborate a bit, and so she firmly believes that, if you are pregnant with a boy, taking paracetamol during pregnancy can change the sex of your child.
I was left a little stunned, then we both discussed who this woman was on TikTok, why this woman was posting such videos on the networks, what her scientific sources were for making such claims, what she had to sell to Internet users who follow her, and we concluded, the patient and I, that it was less easy to grant credit to the first idiot who came along with a smartphone and an Internet connection.
If I’m talking about this scene, it’s because there is a product, a new generation antidiabetic, whose name I’m going to keep silent about because, because of social networks, and certain influencers, it’s out of stock. stock for diabetic patients who need it.
Indeed this drug would have the side effect of allowing a fairly substantial and rapid weight loss, about 10% of the body weight, I popularize thoroughly, which leads people to claim it even though they are not diabetics, just to be able to lose weight quickly, without diet and without hygieno-dietary measures, and in doing so they voluntarily put their health at risk since taking a drug without being sick is exposing themselves to undesirable effects for nothing.
Here, not for nothing, to lose weight. Let us question this desire.
In what society do we live that people are ready to play with fire like this? What atrocious image do we have of being overweight to come to such extremes?
What role do the major social networking platforms have when they allow a shortage of medicines to be organized for absurd reasons, and deprive patients of the product necessary to maintain their health?
There are no miracle drugs to lose weight, taken in high doses, this drug can damage your kidney function, and above all, rapid weight loss, if it is not accompanied by a profound change in habits. food, will always be doomed to failure. You will regain the lost weight, or even more.
I don’t want to blame people who go to such lengths hoping to match the illusory image of those perfect bodies we see in ads, movies, social media.
Society imposes an aesthetic standard that does not exist. Your body does not deserve to be endangered, or abused. Diabetic patients have the right to have access to their treatment, without it being diverted for absurd reasons.
I wonder, finally, about the reasons which push certain laboratories marketing the drug in question to maintain a certain vagueness around its misuse for purely commercial purposes.
In 2022, its sales grew close to 100%.
People’s health should never be subject to a conflict of interest.