The price of Ozempic is already sky-high — but experts warn extreme weight loss could also cost your life.
Dr. Terry Dubrow, the mastermind plastic surgeon behind the hit series “Botched,” is slamming the drastic methods an increasing number of patients are risking to achieve drastic weight loss following the autopsy results for Lisa Marie Presley.
The late daughter of Elvis Presley died in January at the age of 54. It was revealed this week that she lost her life due to a small bowel obstruction after bariatric surgery.
Dubrow, 64, is now urging experts in the weight loss community to raise awareness of the dangers of weight loss treatments, such as Ozempic and bariatric surgery. In an exclusive interview with TMZ, he warned it could result in a deadly situation — especially when the treatments are combined.
Bariatric surgery can create scar tissue that can strangulate the intestines, and the case of Lisa Marie was a prime example, according to Dr. Dubrow, who has a unique viewpoint into the Hollywood realm as the husband of actress and reality TV star Heather Dubrow, 54, of “Real Housewives of Orange County” fame.
Other long-term risks associated with the procedure include hernias, gallstones, malnutrition, low blood sugar, ulcers acid reflux and dumping syndrome, which can cause diarrhea, flushing, vomiting and lightheadedness.
Oftentimes, Dubrow claimed, patients don’t lose enough weight with bariatric surgery alone and will turn to weight loss drugs like Ozempic to shed more pounds.
However, the drug, popularized in the last year by A-listers, can further slow bowels.
It’s a perfect storm: The combination of bariatric scarring, slowed intestines from weight loss drugs and opioids to mask the pain can prove to be a fatal concoction.
While there is no current evidence that Lisa Marie was taking an Ozempic-like weight loss drug after her procedure, Dubrow warned patients of the risks.
“If you’re going to go on the Ozempic-type drugs and you get intestinal pain, you get stomach bloating, you get pain, you drink alcohol with this, you’re predisposed to intestinal obstruction and pancreatitis,” the Hollywood doc told the outlet.
Ozempic has also been linked to a myriad of unwanted or unsightly side effects, such as excessive and putrid belching, diarrhea and sagging skin. Most recently, patients reported that the Hollywood-hailed drug triggered suicidal thoughts.
Currently, three of Dubrow’s patients are hospitalized due to intestinal problems and pancreatitis linked with Ozempic use, he claimed — and they haven’t even gone under the knife yet.
“Nobody’s talking about this right now — but we need to talk about it,” he warned.
According to the LA County Coroner’s report released on Thursday, Lisa Marie had “therapeutic” levels of oxycodone in her system when she died, as well as Buprenorphine, an opioid used to treat addiction, and Quetiapine, an antipsychotic.
The autopsy noted that there was “no evidence of injury or foul play,” and that the “manner of death is deemed natural.”
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