Ozempic: The trendy drug Americans are shopping for in Canada amid shortages – National | 24CA News
You could have heard about Ozempic — possibly you’ve even had its business jingle caught in your head.
It’s a drug billed as revolutionary for the therapy of kind 2 diabetes, however that’s not why demand for the medicine is surging. At a better dose, the drug can be utilized to deal with weight problems, which has led to its current recognition on social media as a weight-loss resolution.
Online commentators have speculated that Kim Kardashian used the diabetes drug to match into Marilyn Monroe’s gown for final yr’s Met Gala. Host of this yr’s Critics Choice Awards, Chelsea Handler, joked that “everyone” in Hollywood is on Ozempic. TikTok movies tagged #ozempic have amassed at the very least 423.1 million views — most of those movies element how a lot weight customers misplaced whereas taking the drug.
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Ozempic’s viral rise has brought about shortages of the drug within the U.S. and Australia, and now shoppers are turning their eyes to Canada as an affordable place to get the out-of-stock medicine.
But Ozempic isn’t accepted for weight reduction, it’s meant to deal with diabetes. So how did we get right here?
Ozempic vs. Wegovy
Ozempic is a brand-name diabetes medicine manufactured by Novo Nordisk, however the medical ingredient in it’s referred to as semaglutide. Semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which stimulates the discharge of insulin and helps to scale back blood sugar spikes.
But that’s not all that semaglutide has been proven to do; it’s additionally efficient at regulating eating regimen by focusing on areas of the mind that make an individual really feel extra full.
Novo Nordisk truly manufactures two medication the place semaglutide is the one medical ingredient: Ozempic for kind 2 diabetes, and Wegovy for weight problems. Both medication have been accepted to be used in Canada, Ozempic since 2018 and Wegovy since 2021.
Both Wegovy and Ozempic are administered by way of injections. The solely obvious distinction between the 2 medication is that Wegovy has a barely increased dosage of semaglutide, in keeping with Novo Nordisk medical factsheets.
Both medication additionally warn of the identical severe potential uncomfortable side effects — thyroid tumours and most cancers — and have related frequent uncomfortable side effects, which embrace nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation and belly ache.
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Despite the similarities, Novo Nordisk advised Global News that it “does not support the use of Ozempic for anything other than the treatment of type 2 diabetes.”
So if Wegovy exists as a therapy for weight problems, why are individuals scrambling to get their arms on Ozempic? Because Wegovy is in much more brief provide than Ozempic.
Wegovy was dubbed a “game changer” medicine by Obesity Canada, hailing it as an efficient drug for an typically under-treated and stigmatized persistent situation.
In a weblog publish, Dr. Ian Patton, director of advocacy and public engagement for Obesity Canada, wrote that Wegovy’s approval in Canada was vital due to the present inaccessibility of evidence-based remedies for weight problems.
“This lack of coverage and accessibility of effective treatments is rooted in not recognizing obesity as a chronic disease and rather incorrectly labeling it a ‘lifestyle’ condition or in other words, something you have done to yourself making you not worthy of treatment,” Patton wrote.
The solely different therapy for weight problems that has across the similar effectiveness as Wegovy is bariatric surgical procedure, Patton wrote, although the process typically comes with “unacceptably long wait times.”
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It’s been a yr and a half since Wegovy was accepted to be used in Canada, however no prescription for the drug has ever been stuffed right here as a result of it’s nonetheless not accessible. Novo Nordisk mentioned they needed to postpone the drug’s launch in Canada attributable to “unprecedented demand.”
“We are working towards commercial availability for Wegovy in Canada, however, we are not yet able to confirm timing,” the corporate advised Global News.
In the U.S. the place Wegovy was first accepted, shortages started quickly after Novo Nordisk began advertising the drug, and have persevered till at the moment.
“There were a number of patients who were started on Wegovy who couldn’t continue it,” mentioned Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, medical director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, in an interview with CNN.
“And so, as a result of the kind of inability to get Wegovy, a lot of physicians started prescribing Ozempic off-label, which they’re permitted to do, for the treatment of obesity,” she mentioned.
The FDA lists Ozempic as “currently in shortage,” citing a rise in demand for the drug.
Will there be an Ozempic scarcity in Canada?
There is no present scarcity of Ozempic in Canada, in keeping with statements from Health Canada and Novo Nordisk. That’s to not say Canadians received’t see provide challenges if demand for the drug stays excessive.
Health Canada notes that “provinces and territories are able to use authorized health products outside the scope of the product’s label,” that means that Canadian medical doctors can prescribe Ozempic to deal with illnesses apart from kind 2 diabetes.
While there’s no official information on what number of off-label prescriptions of Ozempic have been stuffed in Canada, media experiences and social media posts present that non-diabetic Canadians are getting their arms on the drug to deal with issues like weight problems and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Novo Nordisk advised Global News that as a way to “ensure a continuous supply of Ozempic, we are asking physicians to only use Ozempic for patients with type 2 diabetes.”
Shortages of Ozempic within the U.S. could also be driving shoppers to get their prescriptions stuffed in Canada, in keeping with the B.C. Ministry of Health.
The provincial company advised Global News that previously yr ending on Aug. 31, “83,188 prescriptions for Semaglutide (Ozempic) were filled across the Province… with Americans filling 22 times as many doses of this drug as they typically do of other pharmaceuticals.”
“Given the drugs’ heightened profile due to recent social media trends and shortages in the United States, we will continue monitoring the situation,” wrote a ministry spokesperson.
On Twitter, discussions about Ozempic typically deliver up that Americans are allowed to purchase Ozempic in Canada, and may accomplish that at a less expensive worth.
In truth, in two current newswires, an internet Canadian pharmacy marketed its companies to Americans — writing that it has Ozempic in inventory and sells it for a lot lower than American suppliers.
“There is a desire for quick-fix weight loss products, and Ozempic shortages for type 2 diabetes treatment medication are in part because of TikTok,” the corporate wrote. “This prescription medication may be increasingly hard to find, but it is more readily available from Canada.”
In Australia, the place there are additionally Ozempic shortages, the nationwide drug regulator is investigating social media movies and media experiences that illegally promoted Ozempic as a get-thin-quick technique. Last yr, amid shortages, the drug regulator urged medical doctors to “limit prescribing and dispensing of semaglutide to its approved use,” in a press launch.
B.C.’s well being ministry mentioned it’s “taking measures to ensure adequate supplies” of Ozempic, however didn’t present a solution to a Global News query about whether or not the province will urge medical doctors to curb off-label prescriptions.
While some could also be fast in charge individuals with weight problems for shortages of this diabetes drug, weight problems advocacy teams are urging individuals to not vilify the usage of Ozempic for weight reduction.
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In a May 2022 joint assertion, The Obesity Collective and Weight Issues Network argued that although Ozempic will not be cleared for weight problems therapy, medical doctors are prescribing it for weight reduction for a great motive.
“People with obesity who have been using Ozempic have been doing so because their doctor has deemed it clinically important for their healthcare and has prescribed the medication,” the assertion reads.
“Obesity is a chronic, relapsing health condition, with many different drivers and causes — including social, genetic, biological, and environmental — and often diet and exercise alone may not be enough for management.”
In the assertion, Chair of the Weight Issues Network Dr. Divya Ramachandran urged individuals to have “compassion” for individuals utilizing Ozempic for weight problems.
“Those taking Ozempic have had it prescribed by their doctor for a whole cluster of health issues alongside their obesity,” she mentioned. “Please exercise compassion. Please do not place unfair blame or hate people when they are simply seeking healthcare for their health problems.”
