Mushroom chef Erin Patterson has reportedly been approved for taxpayer-funded Ozempic as she serves her life sentence behind bars.
According to the Herald Sun, the triple murderer recently started the weight loss jabs while in solitary confinement.
The 51-year-old was arrested in November 2023, four months after her deadly mushroom-laced beef wellington left three dead.
In July last year, the Leongatha local was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, 71.
Patterson denies poisoning the group. She has since launched an appeal against her convictions.
The mother of two is currently serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 33 years at the maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Quoting a prison source, the Herald Sun reported that Patterson had been granted the weight-loss injections in recent weeks.
“Staff safety is a huge concern, yet management appear more concerned about the weight of a convicted killer,” they told the outlet.
They said the reason was likely because she was “isolated and unable to exercise”.
During Patterson’s pre-sentence hearing, her defence barrister, Colin Mandy SC, said she had been spending 22 hours a day in her cell due to ongoing lockdowns and her notoriety.
He said she had access to a small courtyard for just one hour a day.
Semaglutide injections can range anywhere between $31 and $137 a month once subsidised, but can reach up to $700 depending on their brand
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Community Safety told news.com.au that “prescriptions are only given by clinicians when there’s a clear medical need – like preventing serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes.”
“Access to prescribed weight loss medication was introduced in response to recommendations from the Coroner following a death in custody linked to obesity,” they said.
The rollout of the jabs was granted after a prisoner died of an enlarged heart, a condition commonly linked to obesity.
It was reported that the inmate gained over 117 kilograms while in prison.
Victorian Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin has blasted the plan to roll out the weight loss jabs, branding it “disgraceful”.
“If you’ve got a genuine health concern and you break your leg, it should be treated, but to use this as a quick and easy way to get weight loss is nothing short of a disgrace,” Mr Battin said.
“Prisoners have got a lot of time on their hands, so why don’t we prescribe to them going to the gym and also review what food they’re eating in the prison.
“A taxpayer shouldn’t be subsidising Ozempic.”
During Patterson’s 11-week trial, the court heard the mother had struggled with her body image for most of her life, and that she was a self-proclaimed “binge eater”.
Patterson described a childhood where her mother had weighed her “weekly”.
“I never — never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship,” she said.
“I went to the extreme of barely eating then to, through my adulthood, going the other way and bingeing, I suppose, for want of a better word.”
According to Mr Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the lunch, Patterson had told her relatives she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Patterson denied the diagnosis, saying it was a cover story for weight-loss treatment.
She said at the time of the lunch, she had been looking into options for liposuction and gastric-band surgery, and wanted to gauge whether her in-laws would be there to support her if she went ahead with the surgery.
The revelations emerged after Patterson claimed she ate several pieces of cake after the deadly beef wellington before vomiting the meal back up, something she credits with her survival.
Patterson is not the first murderer to get access to the weight-loss drugs.
Alicia Schiller, who is currently imprisoned alongside Patterson, was approved for access to Ozempic earlier this year.
The convicted murderer is currently serving a 16-year sentence after she stabbed her housemate to death over $50.
Schiller, who had previously been approved for IVF treatment, also underwent taxpayer-funded eyelid surgery to remove excess skin due to an obesity-related condition.