– Words cannot describe the meaning it has had for me, says Tobias (26). In January 2021, he received the drug Saxenda after an assessment by the obesity outpatient clinic at Haukeland Hospital. At high school he weighed 90 kilos, but a student life characterized by bad eating habits, night work and mental problems had led Tobias into a vicious spiral. – I sat very quietly as a night watchman at the taxi center and ate at McDonald’s at least three times a week, he says. He weighed 132 kilograms when the GP referred him to the outpatient clinic for obesity in 2020. – I had to toughen up. If not, I was going to get serious lifestyle diseases, was the message, he says. INSERTING SYRINGES: Tobias shows how he injected the medicine twice a day. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news – Revolutionary The use of obesity medicine has increased enormously in Norway. Something Jøran Hjelmesæth is happy about. He is head of the Center for Morbid Obesity in Health South-East. BELIEVE IN NEW MEDICINE: Jøran Hjelmesæth, head of the Center for Morbid Obesity, believes the medicine mother obesity is revolutionary. Photo: news – The new medicine is revolutionary. And it will get even better, he says. He then talks about the medicine Wegovy. Hjelmesæth points out that he believes it must only be given to people with morbid obesity (BMI over 40, or BMI over 35 with co-morbidities). – Those with severe obesity should get this on blue prescription. This group can have bariatric surgery covered by the Norwegian state. Then they must also know a good obesity-reducing medicine on blue prescription, says Hjelmesæth. Not on blue prescription But the Norwegian Medicines Agency is reticent. HOLDING BACK: Einar Andreassen in the Norwegian Medicines Agency says the obesity medicine does not have a good enough effect measured against the price to be offered on blue prescription. Photo: news – We have considered whether Wegovy should get a blue prescription, meaning that the community should pay for the medicine. We have considered that it should not be paid for by the community. The effect has not been good enough compared to price, says Einar Andreassen, director of health economics at the Norwegian Medicines Agency. But hope for those who want Wegovy is not entirely lost. The Norwegian Medicines Agency is waiting for new documentation from the pharmaceutical company. – If it turns out that it can prevent, for example, cardiovascular disease, then we have to reassess it, says Andreassen. He says the medicine could be relevant for 120,000 patients. This will mean 4 billion in additional costs for the state. He says it will be such a large amount that the Storting must then prioritize it in the national budget. – Needed a kick in the rear After a four-month investigation, he was prescribed the drug Saxenda. – I noticed it after only two weeks. The feeling of hunger decreased, he says. Nausea is a known side effect, but Tobias says he didn’t notice any of it. He says he had some sleep problems, but that this passed over time. – It has done an incredible amount for me, and I can now go for long walks. I don’t eat such large portions, nor do I have the same sweet tooth. – I think people in the same situation as me should really get this offer. It’s easy to say that you should just live healthier, but people like me need help, he believes. He is critical of people who think there is too much focus on weight. – I think there is too little focus. I hear someone say that all bodies are equally healthy, but that’s the dumbest thing I hear. This we know. There is a long list of diseases that come with obesity. Today he weighs between 112 and 115 kilos. – I have stopped taking the medication now. I needed a kick in the ass, but I have to do the rest of the work myself, he says. CALL: Tobias says he hopes more people get medicine for obesity. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news
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Lost 20 kg – thinks more people should get obesity medicine – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
