BC doctor calls on province to cover Ozempic for obesity
A doctor based in Metro Vancouver has started a new petition calling on BC’s provincial government to fund weight loss medication, including Ozempic, for people dealing with obesity.
Dr. Ali Zentner, an obesity specialist and author, started the online petition to get people access to drugs that could improve their health.
“Obesity care in general is lacking, and pharmacotherapy for obesity is not covered under PharmaCare. Instead, patients are required to pay for medication out of pocket or have special coverage through third-party insurance,” Zentner wrote. “As such, we have created a two-tiered system for obesity care in BC.”
PharmaCare is a provincially run program that helps British Columbians pay for medication and medical devices. There are several different programs for people who are Indigenous or who have specific health needs, with income-based Fair Pharmacare being the most widely known.
The income cutoff is fairly high, just under $1 million per year, but deductibles increase at higher income levels. For instance, someone making $65,000 per year would have to pay the first $1,900 toward their medications, and Fair PharmaCare would cover 70% of the remaining cost for that year.
Pharmacare covers most drugs, but semaglutide medications for for obesity — the active ingredient in brand-name drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — aren’t one of them.
Semaglutide medications are injectables belonging to a class of drugs that act as GLP-1 receptor agonists. GLP-1 is a hormone naturally released in the gastrointestinal tract as we eat. Semaglutide and related medications work by producing feelings of early satiety and prompting the body to release more insulin, which in turn reduces blood sugar.
These medications often result in weight loss and are used to treat a variety of conditions, including type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Currently, PharmaCare only covers semaglutide injections for people with type 2 diabetes who’ve tried and failed two other drugs, one of which must be metformin.
Ozempic came into the pop culture lexicon in recent years as celebrities were suspected of taking it to lose weight. It’s sparked backlash with folks criticizing people seeking GLP-1 medications for weight loss or aesthetic purposes after shortages of the drugs meant some people with type 2 diabetes couldn’t access them.
In spring of 2023, Canada’s federal government issued a bulletin about availability of GLP-1 medications Ozempic, Trulicity, and Mounjaro saying some shortages had already been resolved but others may be in short supply until the end of 2024. Novo Nordisk Canada tells Daily Hive Ozempic is now readily available across Canada with the shortage being resolved in January 2024.
As for Dr. Zentner, she believes that providing semaglutide therapy to patients dealing with obesity has far more benefits than drawbacks.
“The science is overwhelming on the safety and efficacy of these medications and on their benefit to treat other diseases associated with weight,” she wrote. “Treating obesity is cost-effective to the system and dramatically improves patients’ lives. It is time to stop the weight bias that exists in PharmaCare coverage.”
More than 1,000 people have signed her petition so far. Daily Hive has asked BC’s Ministry of Health if it would consider extending PharmaCare coverage of GLP-1 medications to people dealing with obesity but has not yet heard back.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly characterized semaglutide as a generic version of Ozempic. In fact it is the active ingredient in the drug. There is no generic version of Ozempic approved for use in Canada.
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