I have a handful of New Year’s resolutions. Weight loss is not one of them.

Yet, I’ve spent the better part of my online time this year scrolling a barrage of social media ads for “breakthrough weight loss medications” that will lower my appetite. They’re code words for Ozempic, or drugs just like it. Sometimes there’s even a $75 discount code, or 30-day money-back guarantee.

Unlike a regular GP visit, telehealth firms are geared towards one main outcome: selling you a medication.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Never mind that direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising is illegal in Australia. Nor that the drugs I’m being promoted are only approved for diabetes. Ad after ad is telling me that: “Most people give up their resolutions by the second week of January, so choose something that sticks. Our weight loss treatments are back in stock. Get them delivered to your door.”

The bombardment came after I wrote an article about weight loss earlier this week; no doubt the crawlers in my cookies passed that information back to Meta. Even so, I’ve been startled by the outcome – and the content – given, like most Australians, I’m accustomed to being protected from medical advertising.

Australia is not immune from the Hollywood buzz that accompanies the blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic. But the strength of our regulations is being tested by a bunch of local telehealth start-ups that want to capitalise on the drug’s riches, often backed by a multimillion-dollar investment that expects a sizeable return.

There are huge amounts of money to be made; the Danish company that makes Ozempic is now more valuable than the rest of that country’s entire economy.

So here’s a 2024 goal for our health agencies: figure out how to deal with this booming market before the standards that Australians have come to expect are fatally compromised. With global shortages of weight loss drugs expected to continue this year, there is scant time to get the settings right.

The telehealth business models cater to 21st century expectations for convenience by offering virtual doctors’ consults. However, unlike a regular GP visit, these are geared towards one main outcome: selling you a medication. Their ties to partner pharmacies blur lines that are designed to be solid in separating the profit motives of doctors and chemists.