Ozempic, a medication indicated for patients with type II diabetes mellitus (the one that is acquired), is out of stock in pharmacies and there are supply problems worldwide, but this shortage is not only related to the treatment of diabetes ( the only use for which it is financed in Spain), but with its effectiveness in treating obesity and losing weight.
In the United States, this active ingredient, semaglutide, is approved for this purpose through another drug and its use among celebrities, including Elon Musk, has made it "the drug of Hollywood."
Musk can afford it, since its price is around 1,500 dollars a month, but health workers are concerned about the aesthetic uses of a drug that, either to treat obesity, which affects 8.4 million people in Spain, or type 2 diabetes,
whose incidence in the world has skyrocketed by almost 60% in three decades among the adolescent and young population, requires medical supervision.
In this video, we will tell you how this medicine works, why it is sold out in pharmacies, how it has gone viral on networks and what alternatives patients have who cannot access it.
In addition, you can find interviews with:
Cristóbal Morales, member of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity and member of the Spanish Diabetes Society, who has participated in studies with drugs to combat obesity.
Beatriz Collado, member of food and nutrition at the Official College of Pharmacists of Madrid.
