Luke contacted us via the orange button Warn us condemn the shortage of Trulicity, the main drug he has been taking for 7 years to treat diabetes. Last year, another drug suffered the same fate: Ozempic. Both are now in short supply due to a trend on social media: young people are being distracted from using them to lose weight. As a result, the shortage is expected to last until at least June 2024. However, these medications are necessary for people with diabetes.
At Luke’s pharmacy: aspirin, painkillers… but above all, one important person is missing: “Unfortunately, I no longer have Trulicity. It was replaced with another drug, Ribelsus,” he said. Luke is sorry. Trulicity has been part of his treatment for type 2 diabetes for 7 years.
It is very difficult to find a drug
Every day he calls several pharmacies in the area. And every time the same answer… “We don’t know how to order it in large quantities, every time we can order it, we do it, but it’s very rare that we manage to catch it.“, the pharmacist tells him over the phone.
In Tournai, in a pharmacy, we finally found one of those rare boxes we were looking for. Last… “We never know when it will come back, so their treatment will be stopped, and the doctor doesn’t know what to do either, we don’t always know how to change the treatment.”explains Isabel, a pharmacist.
The reason for this shortage? Trend on social networks
If this medicine is difficult to obtain today, it is partly due to a trend on social media. These young people are hijacking Trulicity and using the drug to lose weight quickly, just like Ozempic, which is now in short supply worldwide.
Every week a new video about Trulicity comes to Tiktok with the result of losing weight… In one of them, an Internet user even indicates that he lost 4.5 kilograms in a week. The hashtag #trulicity has posted about 6,000 videos praising bidets, in particular for losing weight. For Ozempic, this figure rises to over 85,000 on Tiktok.
A shortage that will last until… June.
However, these two drugs are necessary for diabetics. Today they find themselves helpless in the face of this situation. “What is scandalous about this story is that diabetics are suffering the consequences. And inevitably, if I don’t manage my diabetes well, it will get worse.” Luke is sorry.
And Luke will have to be patient… because, according to the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP), as with Ozempic, this situation could last until June. “We are talking about production problems, production delays, increased demand that was not expected… In mid-November last year we published a royal decree that restricts the prescription and delivery of all these drugs.– explains Anne Eckout, FAMHP representative.
This order specifically applies to Ozempic and Trulicity, which are now exclusively intended for certain patients. “To benefit from it, the first prescription currently has to be given by an endocrinologist, followed by a second by a GP. There are initial criteria of being overweight for type 2 diabetes that allows you to benefit from this treatment. “, – says Christian Melot, representative of the Order of Doctors.
@anafontini antes e depois de loser 27kg #emagrecimento #antesedepois #obesidade #ozempic #dieta ♬ Originalton – notObsessed
Doctors urge you not to place orders on the Internet: some counterfeit medicines are offered there. They are ineffective and may even cause side effects.
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