Doctors in the UK have begun prescribing popular weight loss and diabetes drugs to individuals.
Eli Lilly’s injectable Munjaro (tirzepatide) is now available to anyone who is considered clinically obese, British tabloid Mail Online reports.
Online pharmacies My London Pharmacy and Simple Online Pharmacy list the drug at prices ranging from $53 ($42) to $60 (£47.50) per first dose.
However, its use for weight loss is not yet widely available, as the public health system prescribes most drugs at subsidized or free cost to the British public.
A new wave of weight loss drugs
Tilzepatide, also sold as Zepbound in the United States, is one of the newer injectable drugs that has been shown to have a significant impact on weight loss for many users.
Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy have already taken the market by storm, and have also been influenced by some celebrities and social media influencers. They are also facing large-scale supply shortages around the world.
Both drugs contain semaglutide, with Ozempic being marketed for type 2 diabetes and Wigoby for weight loss only.
This drug slows the passage of food through the stomach and increases the feeling of fullness after eating. Tirzepatide works similarly.
These are still intended to be used in conjunction with exercise and dietary restrictions.
All three drugs cause potential side effects. Tirzepatide can cause nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation. It can also cause hypoglycemia in people with diabetes.
Approved but not widely used for weight loss
Britain’s health regulator, the Medicines and Health Regulation Agency, approved tirzepatide last fall for the management of both type 2 diabetes and obesity. In January, it also gave the green light to a four-dose version of Kwikpen.
However, in the UK, regulation and recommendation are two different things.
Medicines and medical devices typically need to be proven to be cost-effective before they can be prescribed on a large scale through a country’s National Health Service.
Most people in the UK buy prescription drugs this way, either for free or for a flat fee of $12.10 (£9.65) per item.
Experts from the country’s watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, are currently assessing whether tirzepatide is worth the cost.
For now, the institute recommends the drug only for patients with difficult-to-manage diabetes.This equates to approximately 180,000 people in the UK.
The institute is expected to publish guidance on the drug in May, which could pave the way for its use as a weight loss aid by the NHS.
Injectable weight loss drugs are still a new entrant in the UK, but MPs hope they will become a key part of public health strategy.
Obesity is associated with many health problems such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Ministers hope that reducing obesity will reduce the incidence of these potentially deadly diseases.
Last summer, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced $50 million (£40 million) in funding for a pilot program to make weight loss drug Wegoby more accessible outside of hospitals.
“Obesity is putting huge pressure on the NHS,” he said at the time. “Helping people lose weight using modern medicines will help tackle dangerous obesity-related health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer, reduce pressure on hospitals and help people lose weight. By supporting people to live longer and healthier lives, it will make a real difference” and has helped deliver my priority of reducing NHS waiting lists. ”
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