WTF are they making weight loss a financial issue ??

[valueyourself]

These drugs are NOT new to the market.. they don't just' 'invent them' one day and put them out there for consumption !! They are almost 20 years in the process...

Yes there are side effects ! (Have you read the side effects of paracetamol ??? Yet would you hesitate if you had a headache ?)

The side effect of morbid obesity is DEATH...

Why on earth are poor people being sidelined from this life altering and HEALTH altering drug ?

Yes I'm an advocate,, after 5 years at 21 stone I was lucky enough to go through t the incredibly patronising 'tier 3 ' of the nhs weight loss program to get as far as surgery that took me to 15 stone.. ( where they taught me what a calorie means.. like I didn't know !! )

And there is where I stopped... until now .. At that time I was still on blood pressure medicine, statins, a sleep apnoea machine, monthly visits to my GP to monitor my blood pressure and cholesterol not to mention the three monthly steroid injections into my knees which kept the knee surgery at bay.

All of which, have now ceased. Bye allowing every human being in our health service who has a BMI over 35 immediate access to these drugs, will surely save our NHS absolute fortune. ? Why is a healthy life only available to those who can afford to pay for it?

Before you say, what happens when they get there because the appetite will return and they'll just put the weight back on,?

I can only say this .. i have lost the additional five Stone. .. only because I can afford it. .. and I'm now on a maintenance dose .., which I will almost certainly have to be all for the rest of my life.

Why is that any worse than being on blood pressure medicine, and statins? Whilst also being incredibly unhappy for a decade at being obese .. ?

I think maybe you need to think about the wider picture op,

for this to be available for everyone right now, doctors surgeries would be hugely overwhelmed, millions of people wpuld want them and be eligible . Doctors would need to add a lot of extra employees to manage it, and to be in bigger premises. Hospitals couldn’t cope either.

ther is also a huge up front cost if you did this. That right now the nhs doesn’t have.

and right now is the key phrase, because by allowing this to be purchased privately, you start to lessen the burden on the nhs, people stopping using things like blood pressure meds, reduction in cancer, heart attacks, strokes, as this reduces you free up money,

in addition 8 meds are in final trial stage, and should be available 26/27 and in pill format. At this stage it is likely to be widely available

but right now, it’s available on the nhs for those with a bmi over 40, via weight management clinics, soon that will reduce to 35, or something, as they slowly widen in, it needs to be via weight management, as gps couldn’t do their day job if they were having to see everyone wanting the jab.

this isn’t about simply money, it is about the sheer scale of it and the infrastructure required to cope.

I think @TheBoldHelper makes some good points. I'd like to take advantage of this medication, I've struggled with my weight for years, but my bmi is 31 so I'm nowhere near the category for NHS prescription, and the cost is too high at the moment.

But this is the very start of a big change in weight loss management. In the same way as the first people who bought electric cars had to pay a fortune to have charging points put into their homes, and only had one or two very expensive models to choose from, and now there are lots of options at different price points, charging points everywhere etc.

The manufacturing costs for the drugs will come down, more companies will start making them, and the infrastructure to deliver them will grow and expand. And the NHS will eventually get on board with being able to prescribe and support their use more widely, although nothing in the NHS happens quickly, it will happen eventually. It all gives me hope that maybe a year, 18 months from now it will be accessible for me.

Honestly not convinced the price will come down for a long time. In the US it's over $1000 per month to buy privately- I really feel for them- they really do have to get sick before it'll be covered on insurance, crazy.

You need a BMI of over 40 plus other medical conditions before the NHS will consider supporting you. It is another post code lottery.

My BMI is over 40 but luckily no other health conditions that I am aware of. GP just said I needed to lose a few pounds so I knew that I wasn’t going to get NHS support (other than free flu and Covid jabs because of my weight not age)

How are able to get a mainstream dose privately ? I thought you had to use the pen within 4 weeks and I also thought you couldn’t keep ordering once you had reached a healthy weight? Thanks

It's to do with patents as well. Novo Nordisk invested a lot of money in developing ozempic and they want to recoup that and make a profit before it comes off patent in 2026.

I do think it should be more widely available and it will save $ in the long run as people become healthier.

Well about two thirds of UK adults are overweight or obese. That’s about forty million people. The drugs cost maybe £200 a month? And you have to stay on at least a maintenance dose for life? That’s £8bn a month if every overweight person signs up, or £96bn a year. That’s more than half of the total NHS Budget. Are we going to halve everything else? Half the midwives. Half the GPs. Half the cancer care, and hip operations, and paediatric intensive care, and mental health care. Tell young women to have half as many babies, and old people to get half as much dementia, and everyone to get half as much cancer.

People aren’t making these drugs into a financial issue. They are a financial issue. Because they’re really expensive, and the NHS has limited money.

It's the supply as well as the cost

Even though the NHS would save money on other treatments they don't have that money right now up front to spend and it would be an incredible amount of money

Plus the manufacturer doesn't make enough to be able to meet that level of demand. They'd have to hugely scale up their supply chain.

It really isn't so easy. I think it will happen in the end but there are huge barriers to it happening straight away

It's being rolled out in a sensible way that the NHS can afford to those with the greatest need first ie those with BMI over 40. That's what can be done for now and when the price comes down/ supply increases I am sure it will be rolled out to more people.

It's been available for 20 years ... FOR DIABETICS!!

Skinny non diabetics who lie about their BMI, have no health checks done such as heart, blood pressure etc, who are jabbing themselves with this 'miracle' whilst still consuming utter crap for the small amounts they actually want to eat will have an effect on the NHS in the future.

They also look ill.

My best friend died from oesophageal cancer. She could not eat. Forcing that onto yourself is just crazy.

You could equally just have gone on a better diet and done it without medication like thousands of other people and it wouldn’t cost anyone anything . Let’s not pretend that taking these drugs is the only way to lose weight because that is simply not true . Plus by doing it the ‘old fashioned route’ you don’t have to stay on medication to stay at the optimal weight .

I take it every nine days and get the fifth dose as well. It cost about £30 a week. I save that easily.

The drugs cost maybe £200 a month?

The retail cost is £200, but bulk buying will not rely on "anyone want my code for medexpress" type spamming, and bulk buying is cheaper.
Also - the £200 includes a private prescription,

Personally for Me? MJ has almost stopped my drinking, we are talking from half bottle of wine, followed by a shot or 2 of sipping vodka.

Now? I have a low cal soft drink each night instead, and I dont feel hard done by. Theres been a bottle of wine opened sat on the kitchen side, which i would have drunk by now, about a week? maybe.

Yes - because that works as we can tell by there being no overweight people in the world - eat less.

Yes, some people can do it, but MANY MANY MANY more cannot, thats why the industry is rife with slimming clubs, weight watchers etc and stupid diets like cambridge, and people have eating disorders.

Well done you, you've solved the obesity crisis in one simple hit

I agree with the patent part, plus 2026 is pretty soon, the use of the drugs will change after the patent expires

There is nothing about the medication that means you have to keep taking it. It's just that the appetite suppression stops when you stop taking the medication.

This is therefore no different to trying to keep weight that was lost without using WLIs. It's a fact that something like 80-90% of people who lose weight (regardless of how they do it) put weight back on.

Also, these weight loss Injections, only supress appetite. It would still be easy to eat calorie dense, nutrient low food on them. They're not magic jabs that melt fat, you still need to make positive changes to your diet and eat the right foods just like a regular diet.

@Floralnomad 😂🤣😂
Yeah that works !!
Do you think everyone on these injections hasn't already tried
' the old fashioned way ' .
For many this is a gamechanger!
Some people have struggled for many years with health problems associated with being overweight.
And many have now found a solution .

Aside from the fact you're glossing over the risks of cancer and organ damage from these medications, you seem to have missed that the NHS is struggling.

They interviewed someone on the news the other day who said, "I can afford to buy them, but I thought I'd go on the NHS waiting list anyway because I've paid into it and thought I'd get my money's worth" which is a disgustingly selfish thing to do, both in terms of NHS costs and all the people waiting.

With the amount food costs these days, obese people can take less half the amount they spend on their monthly food shop and pay for the injections privately. They won't be wanting to buy that much food anyway.

Not taking personal responsibility is exactly the reason why people get overweight and stay that way in the first place - because it's always someone else who should be doing something, not them.

I agree with you OP except I feel like Ive just stumbled into a conversation midway. Are you posting in relation to something - you mention 'they', who are you talking about

And for those saying that it would be a lot of people on them and a huge investment, yes, it would be, like there are millions of people on basic statins/bp meds etc for life. Asthma medications, for life. People take life long medications to stave off further complications and manage their disorder, like this would be for obesity.
We really need to be looking at preventative health actions much more than we do.

Anyone who gets to BMI of 35+ is usually spending a lot of money on food. Take that cost away and it’s not too bad.

I think the overall optics are poor as well. Just eat what you like and then take that free medicine when you get too fat.

I’m on Wegovy. Brilliant stuff. I reckon I am saving £100/month on food and alcohol costs so that helps a lot. Would love it to be cheaper though.

Fine , but you can’t expect the NHS to fund it and yes people may have tried other diets but very few people physically cannot lose weight by diet , exercise and willpower it’s just easier / quicker to do it this way .

The cost will come down. It’s high now due to the fact there is so few options available, globally, so yes in America too. But once another 8 become available then cost will be a differentiator, and the price will drop as they compete with each other to take market share.

Let me just say the jab not particularly the quick or easy way - the difference is it works! Whereas regular diet and exercise has only ever got me so far. I don’t think I’m particularly lazy and I don’t seem to eat loads more than everyone else but I’ve been obese my whole life. I’m still obese and I’m on the jab. The weight loss is not fast but it is consistent. I’ve not given in and given up because it removes all the mental strain of constantly battling hunger.

Even so, some weeks are better than others - I still find losing weight at this time of year incredibly difficult.