OZEMPIC IN ALICANTE | Alicante pharmacies believe new weight loss injections will ease Ozempic shortage for diabetics
Pharmacies Alicante started receiving the first units vegnew drug approved by the Spanish Medicines Agency forlose weightwhich contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic (semaglutide), solution indicated for diabetics which has suffered in recent important years shortage problems becoming a leading drug in the fight against obesity.
Pharmacies hope that with the new product, which is also injectable, people with type 2 diabetes can regain access to their medications without missing out on them again. An active ingredient that lowers blood sugar and regulates insulinMedical professionals have found other medical uses, such as weight control.
Expenses
Although you will need a recipeIn principle, Wegoby is not funded by Social Security. The cost is 179.89 euros per milligram (292 euros for 2.4 milligrams). This will last about a month, “depending on the amount each patient uses.”
Must prescribed and regulated by a doctor“which will tell you what to inject and will gradually increase the number of injections as the body tolerates the drug,” explains Carlos van der Hofstadt-Poyatos, who has a pharmacy in the center of Alicante and received the first doses of the drug yesterday. a product that acts on the brain and increases the feeling of fullness, which makes the patient eat less because the patient is not hungry. It needs to be supplemented healthy eating and physical activity to make it effective.
Waiting lists
There is currently no demand for this new medicine at Van der Hofstadt’s pharmacy. Quite the opposite Ozempia feverwhat gender waiting lists in some pharmacies and that they have begun to prioritize their supply to patients with diabetes. Faced with such shortages, these patients had to resort to other alternative drugs such as Saxendaalso injectable, or RybelsiusWhat are they oral tablets. However, interest in Wegoby is expected to increase.
“At the moment (and despite subsidized healthcare) people didn’t care about paying for Ozempic. Came with a private prescription. There has already been a great boom, but now summer is approaching when bikini surgery, people will ask for it (new). “It won’t be as brutal as Ozempic because whoever gives first gives twice, but demand is expected.” Medical agency Some pharmacies even recorded the sale of Ozempic drugs without a prescription.
“At the moment (and despite subsidized healthcare) people didn’t care about paying for Ozempic. They came by private prescription.”
Carlos van der Hofstadt-Poyatos. Alicante Pharmacist
Avoid lack of control
In this sense, the Alicante pharmacist indicates that they received informal prescriptions, hence the role of these professionals as barrier “So that it doesn’t get out of control. This is a drug that should always be used in a certain type of patient. over 12 years of age who weigh more than 60 kilograms and have a body mass index of more than 30, that is, they are obese. The focus was a little lost, because there were people who, already having a couple of extra kilos, wanted to try themselves in Ozempic. “People jumped on this drug as if it were a panacea.”
Van der Hofstadt emphasizes the important a lack of which was created due to its misuse, and believes that the new drug will make a great contribution to the lives of people with type 2 diabetes who are treated with this active ingredient and who have had problems obtaining medications due to this boom, with communities in this the situation has become more critical than in Valencia.
“The focus has been lost a little, because there are people who, already having a couple of extra pounds, wanted to take Ozempic. People turned to this medicine as a panacea.”
Carlos van der Hofstadt-Poyatos. Alicante Pharmacist
Side effects
Regarding side effects, the pharmacist recalled that all medications have them and noted nausea, vomiting and headache. There may be others, more serious ones. thyroid tumors, including cancer; severe allergic reactions; problems with the pancreas and inflammation; gallbladder or kidneys; risk of hypoglycemia; vision changes in people with type 2 diabetes; increased heart rate; or depression and suicidal thoughts. It also should not be used if there is a family history of medullary thyroid cancer or a condition called multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2.