The Cut - The Ozempic Pushers

Othella Esposita had been on her period for four months straight when she went to the gynecologist in January. The sales administrator from Kansas City has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal imbalance that messes with her menstrual cycle, and was trying to get pregnant. Esposita asked her doctor how to regulate her period, but instead the OB/GYN brought up a “new drug on the market”: Ozempic.

The 38-year-old, who calls herself “super fat,” was confused. “My goal was not to lose weight,” Esposita says. “The whole reason I was there was the bleeding.” She told the doctor she doesn’t have diabetes and thought women trying to get pregnant weren’t supposed to be on the medication. “With your weight, you can’t get pregnant anyway,” the gynecologist said, adding that even if Esposita did, she or the baby would likely die from health complications. “I was shaking and tearing up,” Esposita says. “I was trying to still advocate for myself.” She worried that her insurance wouldn’t cover Ozempic, but her gynecologist kept pushing. She told Esposita that she and several of their staffers were on it, offered to prescribe alternative weight-loss drugs if Esposita’s claim was rejected, and told her about a voucher that would bring down the cost. “I could not keep fighting,” Esposita says. She left the office with a prescription that she didn’t plan to pick up.

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