The Elite NP's unethical misadventures in self-prescribing

If you're a midlevel nurse practitioner by the name of Jennifer Vogt who's violated one of the core tenets of medical ethics - prescribing medications to or treating yourself or family/friends - it's best not to publicly flaunt your cardinal sin (in a Facebook group called The Elite Nurse Practitioner Group, no less) while simultaneously advertising the fact that you did so incorrectly and accidentally overdosed yourself. Notwithstanding the fact that NP Vogt has apparently decided that it would be wise to place her own health and well-being in the hands of a bunch of random people on Facebook, the provided HPI is complete shit - we have no idea what her past medical history is, or what condition NP Vogt is attempting to self-treat. Is it diabetes? Obesity? What's the route of administration - oral, or subcutaneous injectable? (We're guessing the latter, due to the dosages mentioned.) In any case, semaglutide (marketed as Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy) and other GLP-1 agonists are NOT benign medications, with the potential for serious side effects and adverse reactions including acute kidney injury, worsening of diabetic retinopathy, and cholelithiasis. Who's going to be checking labs and screening for complications when the patient is the prescriber? How can you ensure comprehensive and timely follow-up and remain objective when you are your own patient? You can't. Shit like this is exactly why self-prescribing and self-treating are so frowned upon by physicians. Do they even teach ethics in midlevel nurse practitioner school? If they do, it's probably about as comprehensive as the pharmacology classes.

Whenever we see examples of questionable personal conduct that's not only unethical but also reckless, we have to wonder if it applies professionally too. Aside from her day job as a nurse practitioner at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital, NP Vogt has also decided to dabble in the weight loss industry, going so far as to incorporate a limited-liability company in Michigan by the name of Mission Weight Loss.

Unfortunately, it appears that NP Vogt has decided that it would be wise to also outsource the health and well-being of her other patients to the Elite NPs of Facebook.

With the increasing number of increasingly insane Facebook consults we're seeing from midlevels (particularly nurse practitioners), it's only a matter of time before a patient (or in this case, the midlevel themselves) gets hurt. One has to wonder what might happen if a bored troll posts an authoritative-sounding but completely false (and possibly dangerous) piece of advice in response to one of these social media consults, and a gullible midlevel falls for it and takes the bait. What an interesting medical malpractice lawsuit that would be!