The skyrocketing popularity of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro is making it nearly impossible for some diabetes patients to access their prescriptions, according to one of the drug manufacturers and local endocrinologists.
“A lot of my patients have been going through the same struggles,” Dr. Marilyn Tan, chief of the Stanford Endocrine Clinic, said. Some of her patients with diabetes have recently called her for help frantically. A number have ended up the emergency room, she said, with high blood sugar levels because they weren’t able to get their Ozempic or Mounjaro prescriptions.
Semuglutide injections – branded as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy – have been used to treat type 2 diabetes for years. Combined with diet and exercise, doctors say the injections help control blood sugar.
But the drugs have gained an incredible amount of mainstream attention for their popular side effect: weight loss. This year alone, social media, Hollywood and even a recent Oprah special have added to the prescription diet pill trend. Dr. Tan said it’s also likely not a coincidence the current prescription shortage coincides with Hollywood’s movie awards season, specifically the Oscars earlier this month.
Three days before the Oscars, Mounjaro’s manufacturer, Lilly, released an open letter saying it “stands against the use of its medicines for cosmetic weight loss.’ According to Lilly, Mounjaro is meant “for the treatment of serious diseases.”
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But the FDA has also approved Mounjaro for “chronic weight management.”
Carlos Balladares is from Concord and said, to the everyday person, this feels like mixed messaging. He said it’s impacting diabetes patients like him.
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“For the last ten months, I’ve been trying to get my Mounjaro prescription, and all the pharmacies have been out of it,” Balladares said. He’s not Dr. Tan’s patient, but he is trying to manage his diabetes as well as recover from triple bypass surgery in early March.
“In my recovery with my heart surgery, I need to have normalized blood sugar,” he said. “People don’t care about people with diabetes. They just care about their own self, about losing weight.”
Dr. Tan said it’s the role of the licensed healthcare provider to properly prescribe drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, but even then, patients will see commercials for compounded semaglutides or buy the drugs on the black market.
“I hear about patients buying it on Facebook. Patients end up sometimes buying various medications online. And then I’ve also heard about patients going to, for example, Mexico and buying it at the airport in Cabo San Lucas,” Dr. Tan said.
Dr. Tan shared a picture her friend took of a drug store selling Ozempic and other semuglutides inside Cabo San Lucas’ airport in February. That friend told NBC Bay Area the drugs were advertise for at least half of what they cost out-of-pocket in the U.S.
“These medications are prescription medications and should be recommended under the direction of an experienced healthcare provider because there are certainly contraindications. And there are patients that I have who really should not be on them. And I will tell them that. So, for example, somebody who's had recurrent pancreatitis should not be on this medication,” warned Dr. Tan.
Overall, treating obesity with prescription drugs can help with a host of other medical issues. A licensed healthcare provider can also help find drug alternatives if the prescription shortage continues.
Dr. Tan also warns about off-brand compounded weight loss drugs, meaning it’s combined with something else. According to Mounjaro’s manufacturer, in at least one instance, the compounded product was nothing more than sugar alcohol.
