Former Australian junior doctor Nick Coatsworth has criticized a senior executive at the company behind weight loss wonder drug Ozempic for “fat shaming” Western Sydney.
Cem Ozenc lives in Sydney and is the Oceania director of the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, manufacturer of weightloss/Ozempic injectable diabetes.
In a magazine interview, the Turkish-born executive said: ‘I always thought of (Australia in terms of) the Olympic athletes, an incredible sporting country, very health conscious.
‘On my mind was Bondi (Beach). Everyone is a runner. They are all healthy. Everyone is very fit.’
But after moving to Australia in 2022, Ozenc says he faced a very different reality.
“Suddenly you go to western Sydney, you go to Nepean and you see, wow, this is not the Australia I thought of,” he told AFRBoss Magazine.
The head of the Ozempic company thought everyone in Australia was athletic, healthy and beautiful.
But Cem Ozenc said he found a very different picture when he headed west of Sydney.
The comments sparked a backlash from Dr Coatsworth, the country’s deputy chief health officer when the Covid pandemic broke out.
He questioned the way the pharmaceutical company executive had phrased his comments, saying it “appears to have embarrassed Western Sydney”.
“Cem Ozenc, director of Novo Nordisk Oceania, which has been unable to fully supply Ozempic to Australia, appears to have embarrassed Western Sydney in an article in the AFR,” he posted on the X social media platform.
Supply shortages of Ozempic in Australia have affected users of the wonder drug and pharmacies have struggled to keep up with demand.
The issue has caused profound health implications and stress for many affected.
Dr Coatsworth told Daily Mail Australia the company should focus on increasing deliveries of the drug as lives are potentially at risk due to delays.
“If studies sponsored by Novo Nordisk, Mr. Ozenc’s company, are to be believed, they have shown that for every 40 obese patients treated with Ozempic, a heart attack can be prevented,” he said.
Dr Coatsworth went on to point out the lack of availability of Ozempic and the dangerous impact it could have here in Australia:
Cem Ozenc (left) lives in Sydney and is the Oceania director of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight loss and diabetes injectable Ozempic, and his comments have sparked a backlash from Dr Nick Coatsworth (right).
Supply shortages of Ozempic in Australia have affected users of the wonder drug and pharmacies have struggled to keep up with demand.
“Mr. Ozenic has compared Ozempic to Viagra, but stopping Viagra has little impact on health,” he added.
“Missing Ozempic has a material impact on the health of Australians.”
The World Health Organization found that Australia had the third highest proportion of overweight adults in the English-speaking world in 2007.
Since then, obesity rates in Australia have continued to trend upward.
According to the OECD, among its members, Australia ranks ninth in the proportion of people aged 15 and over who are overweight or obese, above the OECD average of 60 per cent.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over the past decade the proportion of adult Australians who are overweight or obese has increased from 62.8 per cent in 2012 to 65.8 per cent in 2022.
The breakdown between those who are overweight (35.6 percent) and obese (31.3 percent) is about the same.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Novo Nordisk for comment.
