United States: In the latest finding, one out of 8 people in the United States have ever taken a GLP-1 medication such as Ozempic or Mounjaro, and 5 out of 10 people, or about 6 percent of the US population, which accounts for more than 15 million, is currently using this prescription, according to a new survey from the KFF.
Shortage in GLP-1 medications
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported a shortage of the GLP-1 medications, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, at various dosages over the past year, and that has left makers scrambling to keep up with the increased demand, as CNN Health reported.
Last week, Novo Nordisk made a statement that at least 25,000 people in the United States, which is five times more than what could possibly take place in December this year.
More about the new research
Contrary to previous studies, this new research found most of those using these medications were mainly to deal with complications due to diseases like diabetes or heart disease.
Data from the survey revealed that almost half of the people who have a diabetes diagnosis and approximately twenty-five percent of the participants with heart disease reported using GLP-1 drugs for their treatments.
Meanwhile, user of GLP-1 drugs for only losing weight was found to be about 40 percent among adults in the poll, as CNN Health reported.
FDA has not approved Ozempic and Mounjaro for weight loss. However, the agency approved them in 2017 and 2022, respectively, for type 2 diabetes therapy.
Moreover, most of the time these drugs are prescribed without approval or weight-loss indication of the FDA by doctors. Wegovy received a green light in 2021 for obesity, contains the same key ingredient as Ozempic, called semaglutide. Meanwhile, Mounjaro contains a slightly different one, known as a tripeptide.
About the insurance coverage of weight-loss drugs
Medicare denies the coverage of weight-loss drugs, where just one percent of seniors have said to use only GLP-1 drug for weight loss, as per the KFF study. However, most adults (60 percent) expressed concern that Medicare policy must be changed and include these products for weight loss.
KFF poll also discovered that in spite of the situation regarding insurance coverage, most adults using GLP-1 drugs have been facing difficulty affording them.
According to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who launched an investigation to look into the “outrageously high prices” that manufacturers charge. This is because a supply for a month’s worth of a drug could cost as much as USD 1,000.