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Ozempic Supply Shortage

E

ellcor

Newbie
I have been prescribed Ozempic 1mg for nearly two years but my pharmacy says they are unable to obtain new supplies in the UK due to production constraints and don't know when it will be available. Looking on the Internet this appears to be true due to private customers/clinics buying up all the stock and selling it for hundreds of pounds as an unlicensed weight loss drug. I complained to Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer, but they were useless and just read out a script on the phone. Has anybody had the same problem and did their doctor prescribe a replacement?
 
Yes I had the same problem, I was temporarily prescribed trulicity until the Ozempic came back in stock.
 
It gets worse. Weight Watchers today announced they have bought out an online marketing operation that is alreaady offering Ozempic and Wegovy to their 24,000 members as a monthly subscription of 99 USD per month. WW will be offering the drugs on scrip to their 3.5 million members shortly. They now have access to doctors willing to prescribe on a commission basis. It is all online.
 
Announced this morning.
The NHS has launched a new weight loss treatment initiative, =All obese patients will be offered 2 year treatment plan with Ozempic. The minimum agreement is for 17 months, Diabetes is not a condition that triggers this support.
 
I have been on Ozempic for just shy of 18 months and it has really brought my Diabetes under control and I am losing weight to boot. Great so far, today I got a call from the Diabetic nurse at my surgery telling me that I have to go back to Victoza which was on previously and was not doing anything for me and because it was a daily application I was having injection site problems as well.
Not convinced that I will be allowed to go back on to Ozempic when supplies return to normal. Feeling quite depressed over it all really, just when I thought things were getting better for me.
 
Things are possibly going to get worse. The manufcturer Novo Nordisk has applied for Wegovy and Ozempic to go off licence so it can be offered Over The Counter without requiring triage or prescription and be available to anyone with the money. This de restriction will open up the market, but lead to the NHS becoming the also ran when it comes to supply. and It also removes the oversight that the prescription system provides and removes doctors from the loop. Any problems that occur will take a while to surface and the drug will no longer be subject to the Yellow Card system.

The equivalent drug from Eli Lilly (Tirzepatide) that is about to be released is hoping to go straight to OTC.
 
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I have been on Ozempic for a year & have encountered shortages for a while . The last 2 months Ive had 0.5 instead of 1mg . This week I've been told there is none & no alternative. ! It has helped my blood sugar but I have not lost any weight .
As mentioned its being funneled into other areas for weight loss, where people will pay silly money to get it . I do hope their weight loss is as non exsistent as mine !
 
If only the NHS took Diabetes as seriously as most of us here starting with handing out meters and strips and low carb advice. IMO The weight loss drugs should still be prioritised for folk with a chronic illness like Diabetics and then any extra left over could go to others. PS I’ e always thought that meters could be supplied for virtually nothing to NHS considering their buying power.
 
I have been prescribed 0.5mg until 1mg becomes available. I don’t think the manufacturer is at all bothered because 0.5 dose is same cost to Nhs as 1mg
 
Worse still, I've just been told I can't have my Victoza as the knock on from Ozempic shortages has now resulted in Victoza being given to people instead of Ozempic. To be honest, I'm not even convinced these drugs result in lasting weight loss for the people using them for such. When I miss my Victoza I get really hungry. How will they stop?
 
The study reports do say that weight gain when the medication stops is more likely and faster than expected. These drugs empty the fat balloons but the balloons remain and fill easily again. The drugs do not remove fat cells, only the contents. Once created, adipose tissue remains as such for life, and is not reprogrammed. On the other hand, mitochondria cells that can store fat do get changed into muscle tissue through exercise.

People taking obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy gain weight once they stop medication

Some people may actually gain back more weight than they initially lost after stopping obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
www.cnbc.com
 
Hi, yep I'm currently going through the same issue, they say they just cannot source any further ozempic for the same reasons as you, they have sourced àn alternative called Trulicity so we shall see if it works, because honesty I don't thing ozempic actually works to be honest, how about you ?
 
I too am having supply issues with Victoza daily, the DSN's solution was "just have to stop taking it" - so really useful indeed!
 
AbiSwin said:
I too am having supply issues with Victoza daily, the DSN's solution was "just have to stop taking it" - so really useful indeed!
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Gosh I have just been given it but I was told that it is in short supply. I was taking semaglutide 14mg tablets but they are so short supply that it’s caused a manufacturing issue apparently. What are they doing to us by giving these drugs to people who don’t need them and who are buying them privately. Put those who need it first.
 
Yes I am in exactly same position. Pharmacy cannot obtain supply of tablets for same reason. GP has prescibed nothing else that I am aware of .
 
Mmm, I can see a pattern forming here. I too am Type 2 Diabetic and have been for over 20 years. I was swapped to Ozempic from Bydureon. It is truly a great Diabetes drug – but with one serious drawback. Selfish, greedy vain people who have jumped on the bandwagon due to its weight loss characteristics.

I am so enraged by this that I have been on a personal crusade through the British media in an attempt to bring our plight to the attention of those who are in a position to do something about it. Sadly the vast majority of the Heath Correspondents in the media have chosen to ignore my efforts and haven't even had the decency to reply or acknowledge there is a national crisis.

However Fergus Walsh at the BBC has indicated his interest in the matter. As has our local MP. (I would suggest that we all lobby our MP's as a matter of urgency. The more noise we make the more likely some positive action will come of it. Paul Gallagher of “i” newspaper, who has also shown great interest, interviewed me last week on this matter. You can read the article here: https://inews.co.uk/news/health/mat...ics-ozempic-shortage-weight-loss-jabs-2432792

The frightening problem is that not only is Ozempic in chronic short supply but Victoza and Saxenda are both heading that way too! Thank you Boris Johnson, Elon Musk and Jeremy Clarkson to name but three household names that are denying us our desperately needed drugs. The authorities MUST bring in “Named Patient Supply” NOW! Before it is too late.
 
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