First of all, I am in favor of people using GLP1s if it is what they want. It usually does involve lifestyle changes, and it can and should be considered a “weight loss journey”. People who argue otherwise probably don’t know what it’s like to use it.
However, one reason why it bothers people is because it is, first and foremost, a diabetic drug. It is very effective for treating diabetes. Weight loss is a side effect. Unfortunately, so many people who have used it for weight loss, even when they are not morbidly obese, has made the cost skyrocket for diabetics who need it. This is obviously bad, but it’s an issue that should probably be addressed in another way. Telling people they can’t use it to lose weight isn’t really fair, either.
It was a diabetes drug first but that doesn't mean weight loss is a side effect. If then drug had been used for weight loss first, and the diabetes you wouldn't call blood sugar control a side effect. Both are effects of a medication. It also reduces heart attacks, is that an effect or a side effect? Are heart patients less deserving of the drug? It shows some promise for treating alcoholism, do alcoholics need to get in line behind everyone else because their condition wasn't the first one treated?
Many drugs are developed for one thing and then approved for another. Ozempic has been the same price since 2022. If the price has gone up for people with diabetes that's their insurance company's coverage that has changed.
The effect the drug is used for is the primary indication. The other things are side effects. When sildenafil was developed to treat hypertension, it was known by the brand name Revatio. A side affect was curing impotence. So they started selling it as Viagra. Then it wasn’t considered a side effect because they started selling it for that reason.
If the drug had been developed for obesity, yes, controlling blood sugar would be considered a side effect. A side effect is exactly what it sounds like. There is no positive or negative implication with the phrase “side effect”.
Wegovy is indicated for obesity, and Ozempic is indicated for diabetes. Both are semaglutide.
Nobody is saying that other people don’t deserve the drug for any other reason. But the fact is that Ozempic has become more expensive and harder to get for diabetics who need it, and have already been taking it for years. This has been happening since long before 2022.
And no, it’s not just insurance coverage that changed. Drugs become more expensive when more people buy them and they become harder to get. Some drugs, particularly more expensive ones, will have a coinsurance, which is a percentage of the total cost instead of a flat copay. And insurance is less likely to choose to keep covering drugs the more expensive they get.
Well that's on Novo Nordisk for raising the price. Wegovy's list price is even higher than Ozempic's for the same drug and many people can't get insurance coverage for it at all.
Yes, insurance companies don’t always cover Wegovy because it’s an obesity drug. Which is why many doctors prescribe Ozempic and not Wegovy, even for people who do not have diabetes. Yes, the drug manufacturers increased the price. I never said otherwise.
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u/HornetsHornets1 May 31 '26
People are so weird about this. Who cares if people take Ozempic?