MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Novo Nordisk announced Monday that its daily oral Wegovy pill is available by prescription, offering consumers a new oral medication option for weight loss.
The medication is part of the GLP-1 class of drugs that has gained popularity in recent years for weight management and other health benefits.
“I think over the last couple of years it has definitely exploded,” said Becky Berkan, a family nurse practitioner who prescribes GLP-1 medications from her medical spa.
Berkan said the medication helps with more than just weight loss and can treat inflammatory diseases amoung other health concerns.
“They are cardio protective people are getting off blood pressure pills, people are getting off their cholesterol meds,” Berkan said.
Dr. Lisa Netkowicz, an expert in medical weight management at UW-Health, said the new daily Wegovy pill is already proving effective.
“We are absolutely seeing success in the people who can take, who can obtain the medication, because of course insurance coverage and cost is a huge challenge,” Netkowicz said.
Cost and insurance barriers
The average out of pocket cost can reach $1,000 a month. Unless patients have Type 2 diabetes, insurance will not cover the medication.
“And so that has been a little bit of a fight where we will try to prescribe the medication and insurance will deny it,” Netkowicz said.
Berkan hopes the new form of the medication will help bring costs down.
“We look at that in our injectable industry. There was just Botox and now there’s four other, five other ones. So the price of this has to come down to compete with the other ones,” Berkan said.
Provider availability
Berkan said there are enough providers in the Madison area prescribing GLP-1 medications safely.
“It kind of takes the burden off of the primary care physicians and practitioners,” Berkan said.
Netkowicz added that the field has grown rapidly since 2022-2023 when Ozempic gained popularity for weight loss use.
Scam warnings
As GLP-1 medications have gained attention, the Better Business Bureau says scammers are taking advantage of people trying to lose weight. Scammers are creating fake ads using AI-generated images and deepfake videos of celebrities and doctors to advertise fake GLP-1 medications.
Consumers have reported losing hundreds of dollars on products that don’t work or aren’t what they claim to be. Victims have reported paying for products that never arrive or receiving unsafe and watered-down versions.
“I mean, they’re able to so easily capitalize on, you know, the public’s familiarity with whatever’s trending and whatever’s popular at the time, such as these GLP drugs right now. Scammers are able to very easily, create websites, make them look legitimate,” said Lisa Schiller, BBB spokesperson.
The BBB advises consumers to be wary of fake online pharmacies advertising discounted GLP-1 medications. Scammers are also using fake texts, emails and phone calls claiming people are “eligible” for prescriptions or demanding money to cancel fake subscriptions.
Experts said it is important to consult with a provider before starting GLP-1 medication and to focus on other lifestyle changes like diet and exercise while taking the medication.
The BBB says to always verify sources and be skeptical of deals that seem too good to be true. People who encounter scams should report them to the BBB’s online scam tracker.
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