Last year, a drug that was completely unknown until recently made headlines around the world. Near Ozempic, although this is its commercial name. The connection is semaglutidemedicine that increases insulin secretion, stimulation of glucose metabolism. It is for this reason that it is used in the treatment diabetes. But what has made it viral is one of its side effects, as those who take it often experience significant weight loss. The hype was so great that in countries where its marketing is not regulated, supply shortages occurred, with diabetes patients being the main victims. One of these countries is USAwhere you can buy both in pharmacies and supermarkets. Walmart.
In fact, Ozempic purchases at Walmart have grown so much that the supermarket chain has investigation as curious as it is controversial. At the same time, they announced a change in the purchasing habits of people taking semaglutide. This data could be useful to them and other supermarket chains in the future. But it is also an invasion of consumer privacy that has not been well received.
The debate revolves around the legality of their investigation. They seem to have taken some advantage legal loopholes. But even then, it’s not very ethical to use the medical data of people who shop at your stores. This is somewhat doubtful. So, what does taking a particular drug have to do with regular grocery shopping?
Desired side effect of Ozempic
Ozempic helps diabetic patients in two ways. On the one hand, as we have already seen, this increases insulin secretion. This allows glucose that has accumulated in the blood to be used by cells, avoiding many of the harmful effects it causes.
But on the other hand, semaglutide helps slow down the movement of food through the stomach. The result is a decrease in appetite, which leads to the consumption of less glucose and apparent relief pancreatic cells.
And of course, if someone eats less, they will also gain less weight. For this reason, Ozempic has become an effective drug against obesity. Until drugs are available in pharmacies that promote weight loss by mimicking exercise, these are the ones that have the most success, despite the fact that they are not indicated for this and have side effects that make it not suitable for this purpose.
But this decrease in appetite has other consequences, as was discovered at Walmart. Taking advantage of what this supermarket chain has own pharmacy department, Shopping for food has been compared to consuming medicine. Thus, it has been observed that people who usually buy Ozempic have reduced number of calories which they purchase during a trip to the supermarket. As well as the total number of products.
Is what Walmart did legal?
There is nothing strange for a supermarket chain to collect purchasing statistics for various types of food products. In fact, this is a common occurrence. However, the data of people who buy drugs is subject to many more legal restrictions. They are available in countries like Spain, where it is unthinkable to buy something like this in a supermarket. But also in the USA. Although it is legal to buy Ozempic at Walmart there, it is expected that confidentiality.
The company assured that its research, the results of which were not made public except for some statements, was completely confidential. But is it really ethical and legal what have they done?
As explained from EdgeAlthough there are many legal loopholes in this regard in the North American country, the data of drug users is protected by law. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It will therefore be necessary to see whether this study was carried out with all legal and ethical guarantees. For companies like Walmart, knowing the purchasing habits of their customers is very important. But not everything goes well. Consumer privacy and confidentiality should always be important. Even when they get carried away with viral advice, it is very unreliable.
Source: Hiper Textual
