Meghan McCain has called out people who have “urged” her to start taking diabetes drug Ozempic to “melt away the baby weight” four weeks after she gave birth to her second child.
The US TV personality said she “refuses” to take the drug, which is popular among Hollywood A-listers as a slimming tool, adding that she is “concerned” about “Big Pharma capitalising off culture’s fatphobia”.
In her first column for the Daily Mail since giving birth to her and husband Ben Domenech’s second child together, McCain, 38, wrote: “I just had a baby four weeks ago, and you wouldn’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Yes, I’m fielding all the usual questions: Is she sleeping? Am I sleeping? The answer – obviously – is ‘no’. But then I get hit with this: ‘Are you going on Ozempic?’ Excuse me?”
Ozempic contains a product called Semaglitude and is used to help treat diabetes, but has the side effect of losing weight.
A new product specifically designed to help people lose weight is due to launch in the UK under the name Wegovy in the spring and will be sold in high street pharmacy Boots, according to reports.
McCain wrote that she understood that “some people legitimately struggle with obesity” and may benefit from taking the drug, but added: “I am not one of those people.”
She expressed her shock at the number of people “from casual friends to industry acquaintances” that have hinted towards her taking Ozempic following the birth.
“Let me make one thing very clear. I’m not taking it. I refuse,” she said. “There’s a clear moral issue here. It’s hard to take a drug because swimsuit season is around the corner, while others need it to stay alive. And how can this be healthy?”
Her op-ed comes after celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels warned people against taking Ozempic as a weight loss solution.
In an interview with People over the weekend, Michaels said: “I have taken at least eight family friends’ parents off of this drug. They’re getting heart palpitations, they’re nauseous, they feel like s***.
“They feel so awful that it’s motivated them to reverse their type 2 diabetes.”
She added that: “Once they get off of the drug, it does the rebound effect. So you’re not gaining anything. You get off the drug in a year and go all the way back.
“You’ve not learned anything. You’ve not built any physical strength or endurance. You haven’t learned how to eat healthy.”
Ozempic soared in popularity after it went viral on TikTok as a diet drug last year. Earlier this year, comedian Chelsea Handler opened up about her experience with the drug, but said she “didn’t know” she was on it.
Handler, 47, said she was unknowingly prescribed the medication by her anti-ageing doctor, who “just hands it out to anybody”. She experienced nausea while on Ozempic, which is one of the side effects.
Other side effects include vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, constipation and facial ageing.
Concluding her op-ed, McCain said: “I am realistic about how long it takes to have your body feel normal again post-baby. So, don’t rush me!
“As a new mother, I also have a responsibility to set an example for my daughters, who will one day face the same beauty standards… This is not the world I want for them and not the world I want for myself.”
