Anyone been prescribed semaglutide (Wegovy, if it's being used solely for weight loss)? It's a diabetes drug (Ozempic or Rybelsus) that's been rebranded for weight loss. It can be prescribed to anyone with BMI >30, or 27 if you have an obesity-associated comorbidity, like high blood pressure.
No but I'm curious about your thoughts on it. I'm always leery of weight loss drugs but doubly so of drugs that were supposed to do one thing but turn out to actually also help with losing weight...
In general, I prefer lifestyle changes over drugs or surgery. But realistically, most people will fail at the former, so at some point harm reduction becomes a priority. If that’s the case, I’d pick a weekly shot over the knife.
So far, Wegovy looks great. Initial trials showed 6-12% body weight loss, with many people losing 15-20%. That’s way better performance than traditional diet drugs, and side effects appear manageable (mostly nausea and GI symptoms).
While I don‘t like rebranded meds either, the drug’s other benefits often apply to obese individuals, namely decreased cardiovascular risk and glycemic control. If I had high blood pressure, cholesterol, and especially diabetes, I‘d strongly consider it.
The issue is paying for it. Most insurers don’t cover Wegovy currently (because they always lag behind the science), and it costs ~$1300/month out-of-pocket. Of course that is way pricier than the identical, slightly lower dose diabetes medicine Ozempic, which can be had for the price of a co-pay. It‘s only a matter of time before a black market develops, where diabetics are “losing” Ozempic prescriptions to resell the drug on the streets. And I’ve already heard about clinic personnel begging doctors to give away their samples. There’s also an oral equivalent, Rybelsus, but it hasn’t been studied explicitly for weight loss.