All posts tagged: Ozempic

The Ozempic Hackers – The Atlantic

The Ozempic Hackers – The Atlantic

Published by José

By the time Lisa started breaking open her Mounjaro pens with pliers, she had run out of other ideas. She was 300 pounds. She had already tried bariatric surgery. (It had limited success.) She had tried getting her insurance company to cover Mounjaro. (It stopped after a month.) She had tried a cheaper copycat version from a compounding pharmacy. (It didn’t work as well, and she worried about what she was actually getting.) “I was absolutely desperate to stay on,” she says, but she could not afford the sticker price. That’s when she learned online about a money-saving loophole: She could split a maximum-strength Mounjaro pen into the smaller doses she needed. (The single-use injection pens come in multiple concentrations that cost the same.) One pen became as many as six. A year of dose-splitting later, she has lost 75 pounds—at a fraction of the original cost. Lisa is among a small number of patients who have taken to hacking their injection pens. (I’m identifying Lisa and other patients in this story by only their …

Ozempic: Weight Loss Drug or Supermodel Shortcut?

Ozempic: Weight Loss Drug or Supermodel Shortcut?

Published by skeptic

Ozempic, the weight loss medication that diminishes one’s sense of hunger, has been used as a simple and yet effective treatment for obesity. There is debate on whether the use of drugs to combat weight gain is healthy, or should be pushed back against by simply eating better and engaging in regular exercise. Now, though, a certain brand of Ozempic users is complicating the discussion. People, particularly the young, are starting to use Ozempic to carve out the ideal beach bod. But the risks to this aren’t benign, according to a report by the New York Post. Using Ozempic or other weight loss drugs without a proper prescription can be dangerous. Per the Post: “Drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy should only be used by people prescribed them for obesity or diabetes,” Stephen Powis — the national medical director of NHS England, the country’s publicly funded healthcare system — urged last week at a conference in Manchester. “I’m worried about reports that people are misusing them — they are not intended as a quick fix for people trying …

A journey on weight-loss drug Ozempic | News

A journey on weight-loss drug Ozempic | News

Published by skeptic

George Chidi, a politics and democracy reporter for Guardian US, recently came to Europe on holiday. He had been looking forward to eating his way around Paris and London, and was especially looking forward to the cheese. But when he got here, something surprised him. He enjoyed the food but found he wasn’t overeating. For the past few months, he explains to Hannah Moore, he has been taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic. Almost 2% of the population in the US is taking it and the company behind it is worth billions. But while it’s been a big year for semaglutide weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, the changes they are making to US society are only just beginning. From reduced profits for fast-food companies to breakthroughs in using them to treat other diseases from kidney problems to dementia, the long-term consequences could surprise us all. But for Chidi, whose reporting often focuses on inequality, the price of the drugs and who is able to afford them also raises problems. Could they heighten social inequalities, even if …

Ozempic or Bust – The Atlantic

Ozempic or Bust – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

1 In the early spring of 2020, Barb Herrera taped a signed note to a wall of her bedroom in Orlando, Florida, just above her pillow. NOTICE TO EMS! it said. No Vent! No Intubation! She’d heard that hospitals were overflowing, and that doctors were being forced to choose which COVID patients they would try to save and which to abandon. She wanted to spare them the trouble. Explore the June 2024 Issue Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read. View More Barb was nearly 60 years old, and weighed about 400 pounds. She has type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and a host of other health concerns. At the start of the pandemic, she figured she was doomed. When she sent her list of passwords to her kids, who all live far away, they couldn’t help but think the same. “I was in an incredibly dark place,” she told me. “I would have died.” Until recently, Barb could barely walk—at least not without putting herself at risk of …

Kelly Osbourne maintains she has ‘never’ used Ozempic for weight loss after praise of diabetes drug

Kelly Osbourne maintains she has ‘never’ used Ozempic for weight loss after praise of diabetes drug

Published by skeptic

Kelly Osbourne is setting the record straight on her use – or rather, lack thereof – of Ozempic. Though the English television personality has previously praised the diabetes drug known for its weight loss effects, she has now revealed that unlike her mom Sharon Osbourne, she herself didn’t use Ozempic for her own recent weight loss. Ozempic – among other versions of semaglutide, such as Wegovy – has become an increasingly popular and contested topic in Hollywood and beyond, with stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tracey Morgan, Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and Charles Barkley, among others, having previously admitted to using it. You may also likeWATCH: Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s Wild Love Story Speaking with People, Kelly revealed: “I just have to clarify, I’ve never taken Ozempic,” and explained: “I don’t know what Ozempic does to you other than what I saw it do to my mom.” Still, she did note she sees it as a “miracle drug” when “in the right hands,” and added: “The pros outweigh the cons.” She continued: “If you really …

Side effects of ‘weight loss’ drug Ozempic as expert loses three stone

Side effects of ‘weight loss’ drug Ozempic as expert loses three stone

Published by Sam

In a recent episode of the popular podcast show “Diary of a CEO,” Johann Hari, a renowned health expert, warned of the side effects of Ozempic. The drug is well-known for its ‘weight loss’ properties. Having personally experienced the drug’s effects after losing three stone, Hari emphasised the importance of understanding the way it can negatively affect your body. Johann Hari is a New York Times best-selling author and has twice been named ‘National Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ by Amnesty International. Ozempic is approved for use in adults who have inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, in addition to diet and exercise. The primary function of the medication is to reduce blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin production in the pancreas. READ MORE: Amazon shoppers swap Dyson and Shark for £70 cordless vacuum which ‘works perfectly’ READ MORE: Amazon’s ‘life changing’ £10 book that is a ‘must read’ However, the medication can potentially lead to an average weight loss of around 15% alongside changes to diet and exercise. In a statement, the Medicines and Healthcare …

Novo Nordisk To Slash Prices On Buzzy Drugs Ozempic and Wegovy

Novo Nordisk To Slash Prices On Buzzy Drugs Ozempic and Wegovy

Published by skeptic

Image by Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty / Futurism Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of the injectable diabetes drug Ozempic and its sister weight-loss medicine Wegovy, is planning to slash prices amid both shortages and increasing competition. Novo CEO Karsten Munk Knudsen, as Reuters reports, conceded that “given increasing volume and competition, net pricing like-for-like will be down in the US.” Currently, Ozmepic and Wegovy both cost patients an eye-watering $1,000 or more per month, and with many insurers still refusing to cover them, patients are either forced to pay big or go without. Many seeking these drugs, which use the active ingredient semaglutide that mimics the feeling of fullness in the gut, have turned to other glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists like Zepbound or Mounjaro, both made by Eli Lilly — or sought out unregulated versions from sketchy online pharmacies. Because they’re so in demand, there’s been a widespread shortage of both drugs in the few years they’ve been on the market. But as a new paper in the Journal the American Medical Association detailed, semaglutide is …

FTC Moves to Allow Generic Versions of Ozempic

FTC Moves to Allow Generic Versions of Ozempic

Published by skeptic

Image by Getty / Futurism The Federal Trade Commission is seemingly seeking to clear the path for generic versions of the weight loss drug Ozempic — but there will be a long road ahead before cheaper versions of the injectable diabetes treatment can hit the shelves. In a warning letter sent to several drugmakers, including Ozempic’s Denmark-based manufacturer Novo Nordisk, the FTC announced that it plans to challenge so-called “junk patents” that keep the prices for medications artificially high. A cheaper version of Ozempic could have considerable implications. The drug has shown to be a highly effective way to lose weight and researchers have found it can even slow the progression of kidney disease. However, thanks to its hefty price of around $1,000 a month in the US, it remains inaccessible to many — despite costing a tiny fraction of that to produce. In its efforts to open doors for more affordable, generic versions of the drug and others like it, the FTC is pushing back against manufacturers’ “improper or inaccurate listing of patents” in …

‘Ozempic babies’ show woeful state of U.S. women’s healthcare

‘Ozempic babies’ show woeful state of U.S. women’s healthcare

Published by skeptic

The historic failure of medical research to acknowledge that women’s bodies differ from men’s has a new catchphrase: Ozempic babies. According to recent reports, all of them anecdotal and many of them on TikTok, off-label use of diabetes drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro for cosmetic weight loss has, in some cases, apparently resulted in unexpected pregnancy. For women dealing with infertility issues, this can be cause for celebration; for those who are actively trying to avoid pregnancy by taking birth control pills, the exact opposite. Doctors meanwhile are scrambling to figure it out. Pregnancy in previously infertile women taking semaglutides including Ozempic may, some surmise, simply be a result of weight loss itself — obesity can lead to hormone imbalances that make pregnancy difficult to achieve or sustain. Mounjaro and Zepbound, on the other hand, are tirzepatide, which may interfere with how medications are absorbed, rendering birth control pills less effective. “May” being the operative word; no one appears to know for sure. Everyone recommends that women who want to become pregnant should stop …

Melissa McCarthy “Wins the Day” After Barbra Streisand’s Ozempic Faux Pas

Melissa McCarthy “Wins the Day” After Barbra Streisand’s Ozempic Faux Pas

Published by skeptic

We’ve all heard the social media horror stories, even lived them in some cases: The photo that you meant to DM but accidentally posted. The accidental reply-all with a snarky comment about the previous message. The comment on Melissa McCarthy’s 12.7 million follower-strong Instagram including cursory social graces for a mutual friend and a sparsely punctuated flat-out ask if McCarthy has taken prescription weight loss drugs. Who among us? Actually, maybe that last one has only happened to Barbra Streisand. On Tuesday, 53-year-old McCarthy posted a photo of herself and director Adam Shankman to Instagram, under which 82-year-old Streisand commented, “Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?” The whole post has now been deleted from McCarthy’s feed, perhaps doing whatever the data version of cringing is so hard that it simply imploded into nothingness. (The account Comments by Celebs, curators of history and oopsies, captured the comment for posterity.) Instagram content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. But! McCarthy isn’t mad about it. She shared a video to …