There is an impending shortage of Ozempic due to people using it to lose weight, so Belgian doctors are urged not to prescribe it to people without diabetes.
Patients with type 2 diabetes use Ozempic to regulate their blood sugar levels – but it also helps them lose weight, according to the president of the Diabetes Liga, Luc Buyse.
“There is scientific evidence that the drug works for losing weight, but it is not recognized for that in Belgium,” he said.
Although the drug is also available to non-diabetics in Belgium, it is only reimbursed in the context of diabetes, according to Michael Storme of the General Pharmaceutical Association. “But it is also prescribed by some doctors to lose weight.”
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