As the market for new weight loss drugs soars, people with diabetes pay the price

  • 📰 TucsonStar
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 81 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 36%
  • Publisher: 59%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

The drug that many patients take to manage diabetes has become a hot new weight loss fad, and now some people are having trouble finding it.

The drug that Jeremy Mitchell takes to manage his diabetes, Ozempic, has become a hot new weight loss fad, and now he's having trouble finding it.It runs in his family. His father, a double amputee, died last month at age 62 after complications from diabetes.

People are also reading… In May, his doctor put him on Ozempic, which helped him lose about 20 pounds. His A1C dropped to 6.8%. That's still in the diabetic range but much closer to normal, which is anything under 5.7%. He's not sure what will happen when this pen runs out. He's worried he'll have to plead his case to his insurance company all over again.

New tools for weight lossEvery winter, millions of Americans end the year with tighter waistbands, leading to another annual ritual: the New Year's pledge to lose weight. Three pills approved by the US Food and Drug Administration resulted in average weight loss of about 5% to 10% of total body weight in clinical trials.

Ozempic, or semaglutide, is liraglutide's more potent cousin. Instead of a daily injection, semaglutide is given once a week. The FDA approved it for the management of diabetes in 2017 under the brand name Ozempic and for weight loss as Wegovy in 2021. Wegovy has to be taken both to lose weight and to keep it off. Studies show that once people stop using it, any pounds they dropped can return.

Gudzune — who also treats people with diabetes — said the shortage has changed her practice. She used to send prescriptions to pharmacies electronically, which is fast and cuts down on errors. But she can't do that any more for these injectables. Although it recognizes that some health care providers may be prescribing Ozempic off-label to people who want to lose weight, the company"doesn't promote, suggest, or encourage off-label use of our medicines."

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Maybe if people would just cut down/out easy carbs, they would lose weight and reverse Type II Diabetes without drugs. But there is no profit in that, is there?

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 339. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

China’s EV Market Will Slow in 2023. That Still Leaves It Ahead.Expiring subsidies will weigh on electric-vehicle sales, but China’s strength in EVs will prove durable.
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »