The blockbuster weight loss drug sold as Ozempic and Wegovy [has, on 21 March, gone] generic in countries that are home to 40 percent of the world’s population, significantly lowering the price of a costly medicine that had been largely unaffordable to nearly all but the wealthiest people. On Saturday, Novo Nordisk, the company that until now has had a monopoly on selling the drug, will lose patent protection in several of the world’s most populous countries. The first generic versions are expected to arrive in India as soon as this weekend. In the coming months, the generics are also expected to become available in China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.

Ok so how can I get generic ozempic from India, because here in the US there probably won't be a generic until at least 2032 due to how our patent laws work.

Yes, my understanding is that it's legal in the US to purchase prescription-only drugs from overseas as long as they're only for personal use. It's kind of a grey area but as long as they're not scheduled substances, I and multiple people I know have saved a lot of money by buying prescription drugs from Europe and shipping them here (we have such a wonderfully broken system here, don't we?)

If you go to border towns in Mexico like Tijuana they have pharmacies on every corner like Starbucks where you can buy medications.

yet we could just improve our culture and our food supply but I guess a pill will do. Good luck with them hershey squirts you filthy animals.

I’ve purchased generic medications on DNMs before. There was a user “Indiapilldaddy” who sold hundreds of different generics. Antibiotics, antivirals, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. With the review system on the DNMs it’s probably more trustworthy than some random website that pops up.

While I agree that in best case, everyone could control themselves. But I think you misunderstand what the drug does.

It makes you not wanting to eat as much. The pill doesnt make fat magically go away.

Which effectivly would fix the food supply issue.

But I do agree that there's a cultural problem, especially in the US.

"just improve our culture and our food supply"

...as if it was that easy 😅 Especially with the interwoven net of geographical factors, industrial lobbying and tradition/consumer taste.

What are "DNMs"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_market

Pretty cool for folks with type 2 diabetes, but that's if they can still get any sort of supply.

isn't it meant to be a permanent treatment?

no one says insulin is inefficient because diabetics die if they stop taking it.

have you seen American food culture? not sure it can be fixed in any reasonable time

I think you need to make permanent changes to lifestyle and eating to keep weight off. If you return to your old ways then the weight comes straight back on. Just like a crash diet.

All diets and exercise are temporary if you abandon them.

Exactly. And these drugs were originally diabetes medications. And they don’t cure diabetes.

Oh, great, thanks for that advice. My mental and physical preconditions just stopped influencing my eating and workout habits and fixed my metabolism, nice!

You sound bitter.

Never believe it's not so

the weight lost from these drugs were all regained within two years after stopping the drug.

So you have to buy and take the drug FOREVER!!! Why do you think they went to the trouble to develop and release it?

Sounds to me like the US is going to continue to be a country of morbidly obese poor people in a much skinnier world.

This drug isn't the solution: it's a band-aid to give people more time to develop better habits.

Many people will not - sometimes they believe they can merely get back on the drug when their lifestyle starts killing themselves again.

The drug will drop the weight, though. But, like dialysis, it's not a permanent treatment, nor is it a fix.

Not directly.

But borderline people who lose a lot of weight can sometimes get into the range of non-insulin-dependent life.

DNMs

It's fun to dereference jargon the First time you use it.

imo the fact the drug works as well as it does is more evidence that the problem is better conceptualized as physiological than psychological. If someone's body insists to them, wrongly and chemically, that they are starving, that's the real problem because making decisions with chemicals is what our brains do, and we evolved to have less direct agency over the things that most directly impact our survival.

that's type 2 and early stages.

i hope that my example made it clear I didn't mean those cases.

You could get it from Canada, its a bit closer.

I believe they work by lowering your appetite, generally leading to less eating, especially snacking.

Even liposuction, literally taking the fat out of the body, doesn't result in permanent weight loss.

What do you expect a drug to do to make you skinny without it needing to become something you take regularly? If you want to lose weight permanently, you have to work for it, no matter which strategy you use.

The point is to help a person get used to eating a lot less, and when they hit their target weight, they can continue with their new eating habits.

But if you go back to the same eating habits that made you fat, you're gonna get fat.

I've dropped 100 pounds over about 3 years (and still dropping), without any drugs, because I taught myself to get by with much smaller portions. Partially it came from eating only when hungry, not bored.

The other, possibly more important thing was using a distraction, so when I'm tempted to go see what's in the fridge, I pick up my guitar instead. So I've lost a lot of weight, AND learned to play the guitar at the same time. Replacing a bad habit with a good one is very effective.

If you want to lose weight permanently, you have to work for it, no matter which strategy you use.

What people want is the magic pill that they take once and they look like Cindy Crawford at 26 years old forever.

without it needing to become something you take regularly?

There are the structural things - removing parts of the intestine, installing restrictive bands around the stomach. One they haven't talked about much that would probably work if we had the knowledge and bravery to try it would be physical modification of the brain, either by ablation or slightly less risky with neurostimulation (deep brain stimulation)...

https://karger.com/sfn/article-abstract/100/2/75/826710/Effectiveness-of-Deep-Brain-Stimulation-in

sorry but some people do say it's inefficient and unfair. insulin is not free (not in all countries at least) and it's extra effort and task management which is forced on people, some of them just because they were born with diabetes and never had a choice.

it's like a tax for being born a certain way.

Genuinely: are we still crossing borders? I’ve stopped even considering it given… everything.

Because some idiot at Novo Nordisk forgot to file parent renewal forms on time with Health Canada.

The rest of the world doesn't need Ozempic.

I wouldn't if I wasn't a US citizen. Apparently even domestic flights can put you at risk now too.

/r/thanksimcured

Ibuprofen also doesn't work, because my pain comes back after a while.

There are morbidly obese people all over the world, but the US does fat more bigly and with more of the population than any country I know... Looking it up with Google - lots of Pacific Island countries have slightly more obese people than the US (which is at 42%), also Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are tipping the scales in the US overweight class, but yeah - US is a world leader in total number of fat people, by a big margin - though China is growing quickly and may soon outweigh the US in total numbers, if not percentage of the population.

insulin is practically free to make, is about a couple $ per month without subsidies.

If you pay more than that it is a literal scam and people belong in jail.

We're not able to regulate the food and automobile industry so we're going to drug everyone forever so that we don't end up like the Pixar spaceships. In 20 years we'll discover the side effects and everyone will be shocked.

The portions are out of control - one restaurant lunch for me I can make 2 lunches out of. We are trained to eat too much.

high quantity, low quality, plenty of corn syrup.

Here comes a gentle reminder: Ozempic is primarily meant as a medicine for type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It has plenty of side effects, does not lead to long-term weight loss and may harm you in the long run. It may be helpful, but it shouldn't be taken uncontrollably.

Consult your physician to determine if it's the best way forward.

Infinite money glitch: sell ammo and medkits

i believe cravings can make one obese even if ze only selects foods that ze can make in zir own kitchen

I took Ozempic for awhile until I left the US it was amazing simply for the fact it just curbed my constant hunger. I was always ALWAYS hungry. I would literally eat til full and then still feel hungry. I went on a big diet for awhile to manage portions and generally eat healthier but the hunger just distracted me constantly and kept me from sleeping. I was on the diet for the better part of A year and I never got used to the portion sizes (I did get used to eating better food though)

then I finally started taking Ozempic and when the hunger started subsiding I felt so much better. My type II was able to be managed much more effectively so I actually had energy. I slept better, I worked better and could think clearer. It was actually life changing and I did start losing weight.

Now im in a country where its not as accessible if at all and even if it was available, I make so little money I probably cant afford it. I used my last two doses while I was here and then just went off it. The hunger is back and my blood sugar is back to being not so controlled. Im eating more because of the hunger and if I dont I get very grumpy and unpleasant to be around. Im tired and exhausted all the time. I am doing a little better than before because good healthy food is easier and cheaper to come by. Im also much much much more active whether I like it or not but it is keeping the pounds off so im definitely burning all the calories that I am eating at least but being so active and hungry is even more miserable.

People don't care. They just want to lose weight with zero effort.

Already have had friends of friends and family who have been on it, lost 30-40lbs, and went off it, and gained it all right back. It's basically the yo-yo dieting in prescription form.

Most of my friends and family are skinny and healthy and have never gained much weight beyond temporary gains... how? Diet and Exercise. But I def regular encounter that basically think diet and exercise can't possibly be the solution to their weight issues... while they suck down 40oz sugar coffees everyday and are winded by walking .5km

Individual differences matter.

Some people are eating like a truck and can barely be called active, yet remain slim.

Some others put a much greater effort into keeping themselves in shape, stick to a diet, exercise a lot, and still don't have it.

There are plenty of genuine issues that can make losing weight problematic. But taking random drugs without prescription like there's no tomorrow is not going to help.