The New Oxy Chronicles
The U.S. Senate opens an investigation into the Ozempic and Wegovy off-label sales and marketing pharma hustle, theatrically policing practices the legislative body has made legal
(ABC presented the special, 'Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.' Oprah Winfrey's hour-long show discussed Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy and other prescription diabetes medications that are now being used for weight loss. The show was broadcast on March 18 on ABC. After the broadcast, the demand for the medication again spiked.)
A Senate committee opened an investigation into Novo Nordisk's list prices for Ozempic and Wegovy, Novo Nordisk's diabetes and weight loss drugs.
In an April 24 letter to Novo Nordisk's CEO, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions said Ozempic and Wegovy are "exorbitantly expensive," which restricts access to the drugs for millions of Americans.
In the U.S., a four-week supply of Ozempic costs $969, and Wegovy is $1,349. That's up to 15 times more than what Novo Nordisk charges in Canada, Europe and Japan, the letter said.
Tirzepatide — sold under the brand name Mounjaro — and semaglutide — sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy — are administered once a week by shot. Mounjaro is known as a GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist while Ozempic and Wegovy are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Mounjaro and Ozempic were initially sold as diabetes medications, while Wegovy is specifically for weight loss. The medications are currently administered by injection, but the drug in Wegovy and Ozempic may soon be available in pill form. In April of 2023, Wegovy was FDA-approved for weight loss; Ozempic and Mounjaro were not. The fervor around the instant weight loss has changed that.
These drugs were originally prescribed to patients with Type 2 diabetes as they produce insulin and lower blood sugar. They also release a hormone that slows down digestion and keeps food in a patient's stomach longer. This process suppresses hunger and leads to weight loss — but that can take a toll on the body. Other serious side effects of Ozempic include thyroid tumors, pancreatitis, changes in vision, hypoglycemia, gallbladder issues, kidney failure and cancer.
The most severe complications Shah sees in her patients are pancreatitis and gallbladder issues — either can lead to hospitalization.
In 2023, pharmacies, clinics and hospitals spent more than $38 billion on the two products, which contain the same drug, semaglutide. They were the No. 1 pharmaceutical expense for U.S. healthcare, according to research published April 24.
In March, the FDA approved Wegovy for obese and overweight adults with heart disease; 3.6 million Medicare beneficiaries are in the expanded patient population. A few weeks later, researchers published findings that indicated semaglutide could remain profitable at a lower price since it costs less than $5 to manufacture.
"If the prices for these products are not substantially reduced they [...] have the potential to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid and our entire healthcare system," the April 24 letter said.
For Ozempic, Wegovy and other glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs, Medicare spending reached $5.2 billion in 2022. Four years prior, the medicines cost Medicare $57 million.
The committee asked Novo Nordisk to explain financial data on Ozempic and Wegovy, and the Denmark-based drugmaker was asked if it plans to lower the list prices.
"It's easy to oversimplify the science that goes into understanding disease and developing and producing new treatments, as well as the intricacies of U.S. and global healthcare systems," a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said. "However, the public debate doesn't always take into account this extremely complex reality."
The spokesperson said the company agrees that Ozempic and Wegovy should be available to patients with Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance and that it is working with policymakers on access and affordability.
But between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 2023, at least 2,941 Americans reported overdose exposures to semaglutide, according to a recent report from America’s Poison Centers, a national nonprofit representing 55 poison centers in the United States.
California accounted for about 350 of the reports, or around 12%, according to Raymond Ho, the managing director of the California Poison Control System.
The nationwide number of semaglutide overdoses in 2023 was more than double the 1,447 reported in 2022, which was more than double the 607 semaglutide overdoses reported in 2021. There were only 364 reported semaglutide overdoses in 2020 and 196 in 2019, less than 10% of the number that occurred so far this year.
The number of deaths caused by overdoses to date in 2024 are not yet available.