The US Ozempic chapter is not in NYC or LA, but a southern city

A Kentucky town has become the largest Ozempic outlet in the US, despite being billed as a Hollywood weight loss miracle.

Bowling Green, just an hour north of Nashville, Tennessee, has seen the nation’s highest prescription rates for diabetes treatment, which has turned into a method to lose unwanted weight, Bloomberg reported.

Its use reaches 4% of all city residents—about 3% higher than rates in major metropolitan areas like Brooklyn and Miami. Census data shows Bowling Green’s population is just over 72,000 with a median household income of about $46,000.

“We’re red enough to be fat, but smart enough to do something about it,” retired teacher Mary Sansom told the newspaper.

The data also highlights that as a state, Kentucky is highly dependent on Ozempic and its counterparts such as Wegovy or Zepbound. It is reported that nearly 1 in 15 – 6.8% of the general population – is prescribed one of them.

“Ozempic and Wegovy, that’s all I hear,” added Brianna Tooley, a Walgreens pharmacist in Bowling Green.

The push to curb their obesity problem, or “do something about it” as Sansom put it, is also causing other problems as quick-fix imitators keep popping up in a fast-moving market. Even pharmacies have started to issue similar products.

A 25-year-old GNC store manager in the area, Candace Sims, recalled that her son took a generic supplement intended to soothe his stomach and became ill for several weeks afterward.

“He just wanted to try it because all his friends were doing it,” she said.

Medical spas and weight loss clinics have also entered the competitive health care scene by writing prescriptions.

Resident Marie Ellis, who shed 80 pounds with the similar drug Mounjaro after skepticism that it was only meant for Hollywood people while still weighing 265 pounds, has joined a spa that sells cheaper alternatives to her prescription.

And, like a posh club in Tinseltown, “you can’t go in there now. It’s almost impossible” because of the volume, she said.

“If you go tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning, or even before, you won’t find any parking space.”