The case in summary • Diabetes patients think they are being forced to take unnecessary medication in order to get Ozempic on a blue prescription.• The Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) is in contact with Novo Nordisk, the company that sells Ozempic, to assess whether they should allow Ozempic as the only medicine. • DMP has asked Novo Nordisk to send documentation, which they have confirmed they will deliver.• Ozempic consumption in Norway has increased sharply in the past year, and the state has spent NOK 1.2 billion on the medicine so far this year. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. In recent years, the diabetes medication Ozempic has taken off as a slimming agent. Prices have skyrocketed and stocks are empty. On Monday, the authorities put their foot down. Today, diabetic patients are not allowed to use Ozempic as their only medicine. This has caused strong reactions. Now there are new signals from the Norwegian authorities. The Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) tells news that they have approached the manufacturer Novo Nordisk and asked for clarification on whether it is safe to use Ozempic as the only medicine. The answer will come just over the summer, the producer promises in an e-mail to news. This could potentially cause the authorities to change the new rules. Fears side effects Iris Andrine Løvli (51) from Evenes says that she now has to stop taking diabetes medication, because she has been using Ozempic as her only medication. She does not want to take any other medication. – I have not lost weight, as some people do. But my blood sugar has been very nice and steady. With the new scheme, Løvli is required to use one of three other medicines to get Ozempic. – I haven’t tried any of them, but have only read that some get side effects from them. I don’t know what happens next. This is the case On 1 July, the authorities tightened the requirements for the diabetes and slimming medicine Ozempic. Now GPs must apply to Helfo for each individual patient who needs the medicine. No one can go on Ozempic without also taking another diabetes medicine. Prescriptions already written are valid until September 22. No new prescriptions will be printed from 1 July. The authorities will now reassess the requirements. The Norwegian Pharmacists Association’s professional director Hanne Andressen reacts strongly to the new restrictions. Hanne Andresen, professional director of the Apotekerforeningen Photo: Kubrix / Kubrix_Film&Foto – It is pointless if doctors are to prescribe “extra” medicines that are probably not used. We also said this before the scheme came into effect. According to the Directorate for Medical Products, around 60,000 Norwegians use Ozempic for diabetes 2 on a blue prescription. Several of these use it as their only medicine. This means that the state takes the majority of the bill for the medicine. Asking for information The Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) tells news that they are in contact with the pharmaceutical company that sells Ozempic, Danish Novo Nordisk. – We have asked Novo Nordisk to send us documentation for Ozempic as the only medicine, i.e. monotherapy, which they have recently confirmed that they will deliver, says press contact at DMP, Hanne Kværnstuen Hanken. The directorate says they will consider whether they will allow it as the only medicine when they receive this answer over the summer. People who have prescriptions lying around can use them until September, but doctors are no longer writing new ones. Promises a quick response Tor Egil Frostelid is community and authority contact at Novo Nordisk, He writes to news that the treatment of type 2 diabetes should initially start with metformin. Tor Egil Frostelid who is community and authority contact. in the Danish pharmaceutical company Nova Nordic say they are in dialogue with the Norwegian authorities. Photo: Photographer: Lasse Moe He explains that some patients either cannot tolerate metformin or develop intolerance when using the medicine. Now they will look at the documentation they have about the medicines and present this to the DMP. – We hope to get started on this over the summer. It will then be up to DMP to assess this further. – The tip of the iceberg The Diabetes Association claims that the new scheme weakens the treatment of several thousand patients, who now have to return to their GP for a new assessment of Ozempic on a blue prescription. – Unfortunately, we believe that we have not seen more than the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the consequences of these austerity measures, says communications manager Ingvild Eilertsen. She expects that patients will have many questions about the new scheme in the future. Eilertsen claims she was promised a quick clarification. Based on documented effects, Section Supervisor Jøran Hjelmesæth is basically positive about the current regulations. – Many people with type 2 diabetes want to be able to get rid of their diabetes by eating less and losing weight. If that is not enough, you should try metformin, the guidelines say. If that is not enough either, you can add other drugs, for example a GLP 1 analogue. He adds that the guidelines are based on which treatment has the best documented effect. Jøran Hjelmesæth is head of the Center for Morbid Obesity at the Hospital in Vestfold. Photo: Julie Trulsvik Rasmussen However, if the patient experiences troublesome side effects from the additional medication alongside Ozempic, the situation is different. – Then it is debatable. If you cannot tolerate metformin, then it is a requirement that should not be made. For information: Hjelmesæth has lectured for the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk for a fee. The center he leads has several clinical studies managed by Novo Nordisk, and receives financial support for this work. Expenditures skyrocket Ozempic consumption in Norway has skyrocketed in the past year. Empty medicine stocks have made Norway dependent on expensive foreign packs, which have cost up to seven times the normal price. So far this year, the state has shelled out NOK 1.2 billion for the sought-after medicines. That is almost as much as the whole of last year combined. Therefore, the Storting adopted the possibility of rationing medicines from 1 July. Hello. Do you know of other matters within this field that we should investigate, or do you have something on your mind? Feel free to send us an email. GreetingsEirik and Marianne Published 05.07.2024, at 23.02
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Norway can turn around the diabetes medicine Ozempic – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
