Digesting Ozempic: How information sources on the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic can affect patient understanding and decision making

Abstract

The growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been accompanied by the development of new medications for treating the condition. One such medication is semaglutide, which has been extensively discussed in the media under its brand name Ozempic due to its potential for causing weight loss. Amidst the growing discourse surrounding Ozempic, alongside evidence that patient information sources can be inaccessible or unreliable, the research question addressed here is: how is the framing of information on Ozempic, from passive and active information sources, impacting how patients with T2DM in Canada come to understand and make decisions regarding their health? The approach to answering this question involved collecting artifacts from passive and active information sources, before performing first a content then closer rhetorical analysis to discover which frames, or terministic screens, were employed. It was observed through this analysis that passive sources like news and social media often exclude much of the science behind Ozempic to focus on the weight loss discourse. These sources also sometimes provide inaccurate scientific information, which can be misleading to patients. The active sources like websites and pharmacy handouts, meanwhile, cover more, though not all, of the science behind Ozempic, but their complexity and structure can make the information more difficult to comprehend. Overall, it is clear that no single source provides comprehensive coverage of Ozempic to allow T2DM patients to make informed decisions, and even spread across multiple source types, gaps remain that need to be addressed.