Fridge went on fault while on holiday, 3 pens in there. Are they wasted now?

[Movinghouseatlast]

I'm not sure how long the fridge was off for, it could be 2 weeks. Judging by the star of some cabbage and sausages also left in there I think it was...

I had 3 Ozempic pens in there, two are 2.4 mg which I was going to make last 2 months each by taking half a dose as I'm just maintaining now.

Has anyone experienced Ozempic NOT going off when left out of the fridge for more than 60 days?

I'm so annoyed, it's a lot of money to lose. I've no idea how or why it happened eitger.

Household insurance usually covers fridge contents in this sort of situation. Surely medication could be included in a claim?

@Snozzlemaid I checked my insurance for this previously, most insurance says "food in fridge" rather than contents. Medication would not be classed as food, but it is worth checking policy documents.

That's a shame if not included when it's a requirement to keep it chilled.

It's a medication. You cannot assess its safety or efficacy by asking randoms on the internet.

Check what the leaflet/website/published advice states about storage temperatures and amount of time it can be at ambient (not refrigerated). My guess is that the advice will be to dispose of it as it's been out of temperature range too long. The dispensing pharmacy or prescribing doctor should also be able to advise on this.

I think that for £300 it's not worth claiming as the premium would go up.

Insurers always do everything possible to limit their liabilities, there will also be relatively low maximum claim limits for fridge claims.

I bet insurers are glad they have those in place on their policies already when there some WLI patients who are hoarding 7-8 expensive pens in their fridge!

@joanofaardvark I take offence at being call a "random" 😉 but if I am one, surely that makes you one too? 🤣

OP, speak to your provider to find out what is salvageable.

Yep I'm also a random! Take my advice with caution too - though I can't see much going wrong with reading the leaflet or speaking to your pharmacist/GP.

Yes, I have read the leaflet. 2 of the pens are actually Wegovy which says 30 days on the leaflet! So it's even more lost money.

I just think it's strange that Ozempic says on the leaflet that it can be kept out of the fridge for 56 days. Wegovy says 30 days.

The ingredients are exactly the same, the pen is exactly the same ( just a different colour) the box is the same , needles are the same. So I guess I'm wondering why there is a 26 day day difference.

In fact I have used a Wegovy pen for 56 days from first opening because I assumed ( wrongly) that it was the same as Ozempic in terms of safety unrefrigerated. I used Ozempic for over a year and then was swapped to Wegovy by my prescriber who stated it was the same product rebranded.

Anyhow, it's a lot of money down the drain. Bad timing that the fridge broke whilst I was away.

@Movinghouseatlast I know Ozempic and Wegovy have the same active ingredient Semaglutide rebranded, but do they have the same preservatives etc in the same quantities? That might be where the difference lies.

Or it might be Semaglutide is effective for diabetes and blood sugar control for longer, but become ineffective for weight loss sooner.

Might even be a commercial reason.

There could be many other possible reasons!