How Long Do Patients Use Ozempic and Wegovy?
The expert answer is less than comforting, per an NBC article. According to Dr. Walid Gellad, a University of Pittsburgh professor of medicine, “No one really knows how long you should be on these medications.”
Patients are seemingly making that decision on their own. A recent analysis from Reuters of U.S. pharmacy claims reveals that most patients discontinued using Wegovy and Ozempic after two years.
Reviewed by Prime Therapeutics and Magellan Rx Management, a pharmacy benefits manager, published information only included patients using Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss in the year 2021 (excluding type 2 diabetes).
Study Statistics
3,364 participants
Mean age: 46
81% female
BMI over 30
After year 1, only approximately 42% of the patients continued medication use.
After two years, this number went down to 23%
Older GLP-1 drugs like Saxenda showed even lower persistence rates, with only 7.4% of patients remaining on the medication after two years.
Why the drastic decrease in discontinuation?
The analysis did not formally investigate why the discontinuation occurred. However, with out of pocket costs often exceeding $1,000 per month, this can be prohibitive financially for long-term use, which is how these drugs are designed to be used. Other factors include the unpleasant side-effects caused by the medications such as nausea and vomiting, supply shortages, or not adhering to a maintenance dose once a patient achieved their goal weight (which facilitates weight re-gain).
The financial implications of widespread use of these medications have raised concerns. President Joe Biden and other officials have criticized their high prices, estimating that if half of the obese adults in the U.S. used these drugs, the cost could reach $411 billion annually, surpassing the total expenditure on all prescription drugs in 2022.
The majority of health insurance companies cover bariatric procedures. According to JAMA Network, these procedures are safe, offer long-term success, and are exponentially more cost-effective than GLP-1 medications.
For more information on the bariatric procedures Dr. Korman performs, contact the office today.
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