Demand for a type 2 diabetes drug continues after it was popularized on social media for its off-label use for weight loss. The drug, Ozempic, was originally designed to treat diabetes. The drug shortage has caused many patients to panic, including Dennis Klein. The product worked great, the problem was availability, Dennis Klein told Pittsburgh Action News 4. You can’t get it anywhere. Klin was diagnosed with diabetes. before his 50th birthday, and two years ago, he was prescribed Ozempić. “My doctor felt it was necessary to use that, as well as other insulin, to keep things going, which he has,” Klein said. But last spring, Klein says he started having trouble taking the medication. I even took a day off because I had to try to find him, Klein said. I was literally down to the wire on it. I called about 13 or 14 pharmacies to try to find this in this general area; within a 15-20 mile radius, no one had it. Director of the UPMC Center for Obesity Medicine, Dr. David Rometo, said the shortage is affecting his patients and colleagues across the country. “Patients can’t get the medication they’re already taking, and their doctors prescribe it for good reason, and they can’t even start taking that type of medication,” Rometo told Pittsburgh Action News 4. Ozempic is a once-weekly injection to treat type 2 diabetes. Although the drug has been on the market for about five years, the supply for it now, said Rometo, does not meet the demand. The drawback comes from the fact that more and more people are using it for weight loss, but some of them are patients who have diabetes, which was already well controlled and did not need a new drug to control their blood sugar, but wanted the weight loss effects to improve their health, said Rometo. Like Klein, Rometo has his frustrations when trying to get patients the medicine they need. Asking people not to prescribe Ozempic off-label and asking patients not to even ask for Ozempic as part of a lack of triage mentality, Rometo said. If someone is desperate to start their weight loss journey with drugs, and they want the best drugs, they should think, ‘Well, I’ll be on the second best drug until the shortages end.’ Rather than risk it, Klein says he had no choice but to switch medications. We need this to live, Cline said. It’s very frustrating and gets me to the point where I feel worse about it because I know it’s not the pharmacy’s fault. Rometo says that while the process is frustrating, some patients need exactly this drug, and Ozempic is prescribed to them with severe cases of diabetes. I leave it up to the individual physician to tell their patients that sometimes it is not the right time to prescribe this drug, Rometo said. Here are the alternatives. I have patients with uncontrolled diabetes who need this more than you right now. For now, it is difficult to predict how long the shortage will remain, and doctors say it may take some time until the problem is resolved. Don’t expect the shortages to end anytime soon.
Demand for a type 2 diabetes drug continues after it was popularized on social media for its off-label use for weight loss.
The drug, Ozempic, was originally designed to treat diabetes. The drug shortage has caused anxiety among many patients, including Dennis Klein.
The product worked great, the problem was availability, Dennis Cline told Pittsburghs Action News 4. You can’t get it anywhere.
Klin was diagnosed with diabetes before his 50th birthday, and Ozempić was prescribed to him two years ago.
“My doctor felt it was necessary to use that, as well as other insulin, to keep things going, which he has,” Klein said.
But last spring, Klein says he started having trouble taking the medication.
I even took a day off because I had to try to find him, Klein said. I was literally down to the wire on it. I called about 13 or 14 pharmacies to try to find this in this general area; within a 15-20 mile radius, no one had it.
Director of the UPMC Center for Obesity Medicine, Dr. David Rometo, said the shortage affects his patients and colleagues across the country.
“Patients are not able to get the medications they’re already taking, and their doctors prescribe them for good reason, and they can’t even start taking that type of medication,” Rometo told Pittsburgh Action News 4.
Ozempic is a once-weekly injection for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Although the drug has been on the market for about five years, the supply for it now, Rometo said, does not meet the demand.
The drawback comes from the fact that more and more people are using it for weight loss, but some of them are patients who have diabetes, which was already well controlled and did not need a new drug to control their blood sugar, but wanted the weight loss effects to improve their health, said Rometo.
Like Klein, Rometo has his frustrations when trying to get patients the medicine they need.
Asking people not to prescribe Ozempic off-label and asking patients not to even ask for Ozempic as part of a lack of triage mentality, Rometo said. If someone is desperate to start their weight loss journey with drugs, and they want the best drugs, they should think, ‘Well, I’ll be on the second best drug until the shortages end.’
Rather than risk it, Klein says he had no choice but to switch medications.
We need this to live, Cline said. It’s very frustrating, and it gets me to the point where I feel worse about it because I know it’s not the pharmacy’s fault.
Rometo says that while the process is frustrating, some patients need just this drug, and Ozempic is prescribed to those with severe cases of diabetes.
I leave it up to the individual physician to tell their patients that sometimes it is not the right time to prescribe this drug, Rometo said. Here are the alternatives. I have patients with uncontrolled diabetes who need this more than you right now.
For now, it is difficult to predict how long the shortage will remain, and doctors say it may take some time until the problem is resolved. Don’t expect the shortages to end anytime soon.
#Impact #Ozempic #shortage #local #patients
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