Reports of self-harm and suicidal thoughts have led to investigations into several drugs used for diabetes and weight loss. Cases have also been reported in Norway.
The diabetes medication Ozempic has also been shown to help with weight reduction. This has meant that the prescription of the drug has skyrocketed in recent years. Photo: George Frey, Reuters/NTB
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The drug Ozempic is known to many as the diabetes medicine that many people use to lose weight.
Since 2019, the use of the drug has exploded in Norway. In the course of two years, the proportion who pay for the medication themselves went from 7 to 25 per cent. From January to November last year, 480,000 packages were sold.
What the authorities thought would cost Norway NOK 21 million ended up costing the state NOK 395 million. The demand has been enormous. So big that the company behind it has problems meeting demand.
It has been known that the medicine can have some side effects, such as nausea and diarrhoea. Fairly harmless. But when reports of side effects of a completely different nature came in in Iceland, the warning lights started flashing.
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2023-07-13 13:25:44
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