Doctor tied to thousands of Ozempic prescriptions in B.C. has N.S. licence suspended

The Nova Scotia College of Physicians and Surgeons has suspended the licence of a doctor living in the U.S. who is believed to have written thousands of prescriptions for Ozempic, a diabetes drug that some patients are seeking to help with weight loss.

The regulator doesn't believe Dr. David Davison has practised in Nova Scotia for years, but he allegedly wrote 7,500 prescriptions for semaglutide, the generic name for the drug, in February 2023, 5,800 in January 2023 and 3,860 in December 2022. The college said it believes most of the prescriptions were provided to Americans who filled them in B.C.

"Based on volume alone, the prescribing is not in keeping with the standards of the profession," Dr. Gus Grant, registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, told CBC News in an email.

"I cannot see how the volume of medications prescribed could possibly be supported by proper medical assessment and judgment. On its face, the prescribing appears incompetent."

The college said Davison had a licence to practise medicine in Nova Scotia because — by law — it must issue licences to qualified non-resident physicians. The governing body for doctors says it issued an interim suspension of his licence within 24 hours after learning his name and also started an investigation.

Using the college's physician search feature on its website, the only Dr. David Davison listed has a practice address tied to Odessa, Texas.

The college said it became aware Davison was prescribing Ozempic on Wednesday after it received a letter from the B.C. College of Pharmacists outlining "serious concerns" regarding his prescribing.

The province of British Columbia announced in late March it was planning to restrict how much Ozempic could be sold to people outside Canada following a surge in demand for the drug by U.S. citizens.

"Inter-provincial prescribing has long been a part of the pan-Canadian approach to health care, but international prescribing is not. Pharmacists regularly receive prescriptions from prescribers in other provinces," Grant said.

"Pharmacists cannot process prescriptions from American physicians unless signed off by a Canadian physician. This signing off is in law prescribing. Before any medication is dispensed, it is up to pharmacists to determine whether the prescription is appropriate."

Statement from B.C. health minister

In a statement, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said he appreciated the actions of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.

"It is important to ensure prescribing Ozempic is happening within clinical practice requirements to prevent the very serious issue of diverting the B.C. and Canadian drug supply to the American market," he said.