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.
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