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Maker of Ozempic and Wegovy faces grilling over high cost of weight loss drugs (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The chief executive of the drugmaker Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, is scheduled to face tough questions Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the high costs of the company’s widely popular weight-loss drugs.

Jørgensen will appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday starting at 10 a.m. ET.

The head of the committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been vocal about his frustrations over how much Novo Nordisk charges Americans for both Ozempic (used to treat type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (approved for weight loss).

"In general, we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Same exact medicine sold in Canada, Europe is a fraction of what it is in the United States," Sanders said in an interview Monday. "The result of that is that hundreds of thousands of people in this country who desperately need this product will not be able to afford it."

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[+] [email protected] -15 points 1 month ago (7 children)

The obesity epidemic is from the food we shove down our faces, not genetics or disease. We aren’t getting fat due to some virus or bacteria. We are fat because of self control issues and corporations sell more food if they put more sugar/fat/salt in it. Yes, some people DO need a drug like this, but we all know that is NOT who is buying and using this.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (4 children)

But these drugs target the self-control issues as well.

You aren't wrong that our food is shit, and that also needs to be addressed, however these drugs are a very useful and effective means of addressing the obesity problem. You are wrong to be judging who you think needs these drugs and who doesn't. If someone is obese and has been unable to control their weight for whatever reason, and these drugs work for them, then they need these drugs.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Wow. I’m not judging who needs this, I’m saying that these are not the drugs that need the cost to come down first. There are other medications that should be looked at, even other diabetes meds, to be lowered first. Not these that are being advertised as weight loss miracles. I’m not against these drugs, and I’m sure they help those that need it, and I’m not a doctor to decide that anyway. I’m just pointing out that the two listed medications are a weird choice to start with when it comes to lowering drug prices.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

That's just crabs in a bucket. There's no reason we need to only look at one drug at a time, congress could make sweeping drug price reforms any time it wants. Fighting over which single thing to look at first only allows politicians to stall because "no one can decide on what to do."

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