Weighty matters: Ozempic, autonomy and the ethics of health reform

: Räsänen, Joona; Ahola-Launonen, Johanna

Publisher: BMJ

: 2025

Journal of Medical Ethics

: 0306-6800

: 1473-4257

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2025-111117

: https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2025-111117

Ryan and Savulescu recently offered an ethical analysis of the use of semaglutide-based weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic. In this response, we continue the discussion and argue that their framework insufficiently addresses structural inequalities and the broader political context of obesity treatment. Positioning pharmaceutical drugs as a solution to socially produced health problems narrows moral decision-making, causing structural approaches to appear less urgent and less important. We criticise the individualistic conception of autonomy commonly invoked to justify pharmaceutical choice, arguing that a proper definition of autonomy requires attention to social contexts-stigma, discrimination and economic inequality-that shape treatment decisions. We call for a broader ethical framework-one that interrogates structural injustices and reimagines health interventions beyond individual treatment-asking: is the problem our bodies or unregulated markets and environments that produce ill health in them?