NOS News•
The worldwide shortage of the diabetes drug Ozempic will last all year, warns the Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB). The shortage has arisen because demand has risen rapidly in recent times. The drug is also used as a slimming aid, even though it has not been approved for this purpose by the drug authorities.
Ozempic is only approved in the Netherlands for people with diabetes and is mainly prescribed for people with type 2 diabetes. More than 1.1 million Dutch people have been diagnosed with this. The drug lowers blood sugar. The MEB warns not to use the medicine without a doctor’s supervision.
Social media
On social media, celebrities such as Twitter owner Elon Musk praise the diabetes drug as a wonder drug for weight loss. Videos of users sharing their experiences on TikTok are viewed millions of times.
A spokesman for the MEB qualifies the operation of Ozempic. “It does work as a slimming aid, but if you stop, the effect disappears again.” According to her, the drug is offered for 250 euros in some places.
The manufacturer of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, also has a product that is approved for use in weight loss, says the spokesperson. “It’s called Wegovy. It’s registered for weight loss, but under very strict conditions.” Wegovy is not yet available on the Dutch market.
Whether the deficiency arose because people use Ozempic to lose weight is not clear. However, research by the European Medicines Agency showed that in some countries the drug is often sold without insurance reimbursement. That may indicate that people are using it as a weight-loss drug and not for diabetes.
House of Representatives
Ozempic is not the only drug that has become deficient. Last year, the pharmacist organization KNMP registered more than 1500 medicine shortages. Doctors and pharmacists have the House of Representatives in one brief asked for solutions for the growing shortage of medicines in the Netherlands.
One of the solutions put forward by doctors and pharmacists is to produce medicines in the Netherlands and Europe in order to limit dependence on raw materials from Asia. The House of Representatives will debate the pharmaceutical policy next week.
