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Richmond resident Donna Moore can’t remember how many diabetes medications she’s tried to control her blood sugar, but Ozempic is the first one that really worked for her.
Moore, 66, has lived with type 2 diabetes since 2005. She started taking Ozempic last year and found it brought her blood sugar down to “fairly manageable” levels, she said.
For months, however, Moore and other type 2 diabetes patients struggled to find their medications amid a nationwide shortage of semaglutide, which is sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy. Demand for Ozempic and Wegovy, which are used to treat obesity and other weight-related conditions, soared last year because their side effects include loss of appetite. A clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the drugs caused patients to lose an average of 15% of their body weight.
Experts have said off-label use of weight loss drugs has been a major factor in the continued shortages of Ozempic and Wegovy. It’s been frustrating for patients like Moore, who has been forced to switch to other medications twice since she began having trouble finding Ozempic last summer.
“People like me finally find something that works, and then it gets held up because of the shortage,” Moore said. “It’s really disheartening because it’s hard enough to get the numbers right to start with.”
The shortages have also been difficult for doctors who prescribe Ozempic to patients with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Achana Sadhu, an endocrinologist and diabetes program manager at Houston Methodist, said his office receives five to 10 calls a day. of patients unable to fill their prescriptions.
“It was a headache for us, but it was harmful for our patients,” she said.
Doctors have said that Ozempic is the preferred choice for many type 2 diabetes patients for several reasons. It is taken once a week by injection into the thigh, stomach or arm. It has been shown to control blood sugar, but if taken alone there is very little risk of it causing hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Studies have shown it has cardiovascular benefits, reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. And it suppresses the patient’s appetite, which often leads to weight loss.
The weight loss benefit is what has made Ozempic and Wegovy popular online. Billionaires like Elon Mask and Michael Rubin, CEO of Fanatics, are among those who have spoken openly about drug use. Ozempic was also at the center of a TikTok trend who promoted the drug as a weight loss hack.
“It’s been publicized a lot on social media,” said Dr. Vinita Bhagia, chief of endocrinology at the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. “I think that’s what got a lot of non-diabetic patients on this drug.”
Ozempic are Wegovy are the same drug, but the latter comes in slightly higher doses. The difference is that Wegovy is approved to treat obesity and weight-related conditions, while Ozempic is approved to treat type 2 diabetes. As it is the same drug, doctors can prescribe Ozempic if Wegovy n is not available, or vice versa.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, said it was work to increase production to meet drug demand. The company, in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, said it “does not promote, suggest, or encourage off-label use” of the drugs.
Ozempic and Wegovy are indicated for patients body mass index at least 30, or at least 27 if they are also diagnosed with a condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Sadhu said she hopes doctors will only prescribe the drugs to patients who really need them.
“There’s no arguing that it’s beneficial for both types of patients, but it must be medically indicated,” Sadhu said. “Our obese patients should meet the criteria set out when the drug was approved for the management of obesity.”
Nationwide shortages of both drugs have left many patients scrambling to find their drugs in recent months. Moore said she sometimes had to call various pharmacies to ask if they had Ozempic in stock.
If she can’t find it, it can raise her blood sugar. High blood sugar – or hyperglycemia – can cause fatigue, frequent urination, increased thirst and blurred vision.
“’It makes your whole body tired and horrible,’ Moore said.
Over time, uncontrolled diabetes can cause more serious symptoms, such as heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, blindness or amputation of the diabetic foot or leg, Dr Mandeep said. Bajaj, professor of medicine in the section of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at Baylor. College of Medicine.
For this reason, patients who cannot find their medication will need to change it. It’s not that simple, Bajaj said.
“Whenever you start a new drug, you need to gradually increase the dose to watch for side effects,” he said. “It’s like starting all over again.”
Ozempic, for example, can cause nausea when a patient starts taking it. Even patients who return to Ozempic once they are able to regain it will need to start at a lower dose and increase gradually, doctors said.
Starting a new drug also means teaching the patient how to take it. Many patients can be taught via telehealth, but some — especially older patients — may need to book an appointment where a doctor can walk them through in person, Bhagia said.
Sadhu often prescribes insulin to “patch” his patients until they can find Ozempic. But unlike Ozempic, insulin carries a risk that a patient’s blood sugar will drop too low, so it must teach them to monitor their blood sugar several times a day.
“It’s not just something you can just write a script and the patient takes off,” Sadhu said. “You really need to talk to them about how insulin works and how to avoid low blood sugar.”
Doctors were divided on how long they would wait before prescribing another drug. Bajaj said he would look to switch patients if he missed a single injection once a week. Bhagia said she could wait a month; at this point, a patient’s blood sugar could be “pretty high.”
Sadhu said she tries to help her patients locate their medications. If a patient is able to find it, they will ask where they found it and tell other patients who are looking for it.
“We’re looking for workarounds to help them, so that way it becomes easier,” she said. “But I still have a lot of patients that I have to start from scratch and reformulate all their treatment plans.”
Novo Nordisk said shortages of Ozempic and Wegovy could last until mid-March. Meanwhile, doctors said they had seen some improvement in recent weeks after patients struggled to find the drugs in November and December.
Bhagia hopes doctors will limit off-label prescriptions until there are enough supplies for patients who need to take Ozempic for type 2 diabetes.
“This drug is great for our diabetic patients, and I really hope other doctors and providers keep it for diabetic patients,” she said. “We really try to get their sugars under control. It is very discouraging for them not to be able to find this medicine.
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