Four Corners: Season 2024, Episode 7

2024 - 7: The Ozempic Underground

Elise Worthington

For the last year we've had so much media coverage of the new class of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. Are they dangerous? Do they work? Who should have access to them?

As the ABC's National Health Reporter, I started out by looking into how the ongoing shortages of these drugs are affecting everyday Australians. Then I went down the rabbit hole.

What I found was a black market taking advantage of people desperate to lose weight.

Join me this week as we uncover a scam targeting Australian doctors and follow a trail of mysterious vials of red copycat Ozempic being posted around the country — and overseas.

The investigation takes me from a tiny town in Tasmania where patients started experiencing strange side effects, and back to the mainland as I chase down who is behind the vials.