A leading eating disorder specialist in Denver is raising concerns over the impact of popular weight loss medications on patients undergoing treatment for severe eating disorders.
Dr. Patricia Westmoreland, medical director of the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders & Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, says these drugs are increasingly being misused, posing serious risks to vulnerable individuals.
“It’s really becoming a big problem,” Westmoreland told CBS News Colorado.
Her clinic specializes in treating patients with severe medical complications resulting from eating disorders. However, an increasing number of those patients have taken medications such as Wegovy—designed for weight loss—either through improper prescriptions or unauthorized access.
Growing Trend of Misuse
Westmoreland noted that some individuals obtain the medications from family members, while others receive them from doctors who may not be trained to identify eating disorders.
“If your favorite celebrity is taking these medications, maybe you should be taking them too—that’s the kind of mindset many have,” she explained.
Currently, around 10% of the clinic’s patients have been impacted by weight loss drugs, but Westmoreland warns the number is steadily rising.
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind Wegovy and Ozempic, responded to CBS News Colorado, stating, “Novo Nordisk is committed to the responsible use of our medicines. We support our products being prescribed to patients who meet the indicated criteria and only promote the FDA-approved indications for appropriate patients.”
Firsthand Experience of a Patient
Maggie O’Rourke, 47, was receiving treatment for anorexia at the ACUTE clinic when she shared a concerning experience. She had received an unsolicited email offering to deliver Ozempic directly to her home—despite never having used the medication.
“I was like, you have to be kidding,” O’Rourke said. “I am the wrong person to be receiving this.”
Ozempic, initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes, is sometimes prescribed off-label for weight loss due to its active ingredient, semaglutide, which aids weight reduction. O’Rourke, while not a user of these drugs, acknowledged their allure for many young women.
“People want to be thin and beautiful,” she said. “But I urge women to just be themselves—everyone is beautiful in their own way.”
A Journey Toward Recovery
O’Rourke has battled an eating disorder since the age of seven, a struggle that left her weighing just 70 pounds at one point.
“This is not a way to live. It’s miserable,” she admitted. “I’ve lost so much of my life because I was so entangled in my eating disorder.”
A former Division I soccer player from Evergreen, she described how body image concerns led her down a destructive path.
“It’s about mental illness,” she said, emphasizing the importance of finding healthy coping mechanisms rather than turning to extreme weight control measures.
Now, after a month at the ACUTE clinic, O’Rourke says treatment has given her a new perspective.
“Life’s a gift,” she reflected. “And I don’t want to waste it.”
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