![]() ![]() And once I got through that, I wanted others to experience it, too.” “It opened my eyes to how much I had been held back by my own weight, my lack of confidence. She says she’s never felt better, physically or mentally: Nicole lost 60 pounds in a matter of months, and noticed many secondary benefits, from help with her perimenopausal symptoms to anxiety relief. “She says yes, asks me for my insurance info, and the next morning I wake up to a text … saying that my prior authorization for Mounjaro has been approved.” “So I message the provider and I say hey, my plan doesn’t cover Saxenda, but it will cover Mounjaro, can we try that instead? As it happens, Nicole’s insurance didn’t cover Saxenda, but it did cover Mounjaro: … In about 10 minutes I have a prescription, only it’s for Saxenda, which I’d never heard of.”Īt the time, there was a shortage of Wegovy starter doses Nicole’s online provider planned on later switching her from Saxenda, a less powerful GLP-1 receptor agonist, to a higher dose of Wegovy. “I go onto to read about Wegovy and I learn about these telehealth providers that will prescribe it for you, so I create an account. She does not have type 2 diabetes, but received an off-label prescription for Mounjaro almost effortlessly over the internet: “Nicole” declined to give her real name because she feels stigma around using the drug to lose weight. One Bay Area Mounjaro user, who obtained her medication legally online via telehealth, shared how she became an anonymous patient advocate on social media. Should only be prescribed in direct consultation with, and under the supervision of, a licensed healthcare professionalĬounterfeit versions are extremely rare to date but Novo Nordisk has also created guidance to help spot the difference.Should only be used for appropriate patients consistent with their FDA-approved label.Manufacturer Novo Nordisk has released guidelines reminding consumers the medicines are: And a black market has emerged, with individuals posting photos of stockpiled medications and soliciting direct messages to negotiate illegal sales. Some comments describe outright fraud, such as falsifying information on savings card applications or lying about one’s weight to a telehealth physician. Some compare which individual doctors are more or less likely to prescribe Mounjaro off-label through online platforms. Much of the advice is constructive, as when members explain how to craft convincing prior authorization requests - but can veer into more questionable territory. In these forums, members share success stories and tips for managing side effects and some offer ideas on how to secure prescriptions and insurance coverage. In communities such as Reddit and Facebook, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro weight loss support groups number tens of thousands of members each. Working the SystemĪs Everyday Health network site Diabetes Daily notes, the Ozempic craze has been substantially driven by social media, in particular by celebrities and influencers on venues such as TikTok, where #ozempic has now tallied over one billion views. So how are these people getting the medications? Some are bending, and sometimes breaking, the rules. Meanwhile, faced with an overwhelming demand for these expensive anti-obesity drugs, health insurers have begun to crack down on coverage. ![]() A recent analysis found that more than half of new Ozempic and Mounjaro users did not have type 2 diabetes. Ozempic and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) are approved to treat type 2 diabetes, but that hasn’t stopped many doctors from prescribing the latter two medications “off-label” for weight loss. Research has shown semaglutide helps users lose 15 percent of their body weight on average, though only Wegovy is indicated for use as an anti-obesity drug. patients from the unlawful marketing and sales of non-FDA approved counterfeit and compounded semaglutide products claiming to contain semaglutide, while reinforcing the responsible use of Novo Nordisk's FDA-approved medicines.” The company also warned consumers to watch out for counterfeit Ozempic. Novo Nordisk, the company that makes semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus), has announced it’s suing med spas, weight loss clinics, and compounding pharmacies “to protect U.S. The drug manufacturers have taken notice. Some of these internet weight loss programs appear to conduct minimal medical evaluations, and some hawk unregulated “ compounded” versions of the drugs. People desperate to lose weight have been flocking to online businesses that advertise easy prescriptions for a new generation of drugs that cause dramatic weight loss, known collectively as GLP-1 receptor agonists. ![]()
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