Patients are traveling greater than 1,000 miles to fill prescriptions for weight reduction drugs amid national shortages and a sprint to slim down for summer.
Doctors told DailyMail.com they’re struggling to maintain up with demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, while the FDA reports Mounjaro and Zepbound are expected to be out of stock until at the very least July.
Dr Angela Fitch, an obesity medicine expert in New York City, said she has had patients fly in from as far afield as Florida, Virginia and Ohio to fill prescriptions.
She has also had others who’ve driven to her from Maine, a distance of about 400 miles — or seven hours within the automobile.
Marlee Bruno, who owns the medical spa Mind Body & Soul Medical in Pensacola, Florida, told DailyMail.com that folks want to boost their weight-loss goals to get beach ready.
Among those to have used Ozempic to reduce weight was Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson, 47, who lost 40lbs on the drug last yr
Among the patients struggling to fill a script is Tara Dykens from Massachusetts who said finding Zepbound was ‘very frustrating’. ‘I didn’t wish to mess it up. I didn’t wish to miss doses,’ she added.
Other patients have taken to posting tearful videos on social media after they fill their prescriptions, or empty boxes worrying about getting their next dose.
Ms Bruno told DailyMail.com they’ve had patients drive out of state to get their doses from her clinic.
‘We do attempt to ship it to patients, but this does increase costs and a few of them wish to get the named brands,’ she said.
‘We have patients who drove into Alabama and into Mississippi from here to get Mounjaro, in order that’s at the very least 100 miles.’
Because of the shortages, pharmacies are capable of make compound versions — or their very own doses — of the drugs.
But many patients are still choosing the brand name versions because they consider they might be simpler for weight reduction.
Those who’ve previously used the drugs to get summer ready include Emily Simpson, 47, from the Real Housewives of Orange County, who lost 40lbs on the drug and was so confident that she posted a snap of herself in a bikini.
Patients are sharing their frustration over being unable to pay money for their doses of Wegovy, Zepbound and other weight reduction drugs online
UK TV personality Charlotte Dawson, 31, showed off her incredible 19lbs weight reduction as she prepares to get bikini body ready for her holiday eight months postpartum in latest Instagram post on Saturday. She has not confirmed whether she used a weight reduction drug
Asked what was behind the surge in demand, Bruno blamed the approach of summer.
‘We are in Florida, where it’s practically already summer,’ she said, ‘and persons are beginning to get into their bikinis and really need to get on the drug so that they can reduce weight quickly.
‘It is feasible to lose a big amount of weight fast on these’, she added.
‘As standard, patients lose about 1lb every week — however it tends to be somewhat bit greater than that.
‘After three months, they could have lost at the very least 12lbs of fat, which is a big loss and makes many patients feel significantly better.’
She warned against ‘double dosing’ to attempt to speed weight reduction, nonetheless, saying this might lead to ‘terrible unintended effects’ for patients similar to problems with bowel movements, diarrhea and constipation.
Patients caught within the shortage include Ms Dykens, who’s struggling to fill her prescription of Zepbound.
She told GMA: ‘In one given afternoon, I consider I attempted to contact between 20 and 25 pharmacies [to get the medication].’
The above shows how Zepbound works and the way Wegovy works
Zepbound a brand new breakthrough weight reduction drug is in shortage across the US, health authorities say
Another patient called Hannah Rose, based in Washington State, said she had been searching every pharmacy as much as 100miles from her attempting to get doses.
‘On Saturday, not one in 100 miles had [Zepbound],’ she said, ‘but today, that they had it in two stores!’.
Another patient, called Celeste and from the US, posted a tearful video online this month when she managed to fill her Zepbound prescription.
And patient Tiana, also from the US and who has lost 40lbs on the drug, described it as a ‘mission’ when she drove 8miles to a CVS to grab her doses.
Eli Lilly — which is behind Mounjaro and Zepbound — has said that shortages of its drugs could last into 2025.
The group’s vice chairman, Rhonda Pacheco, said: ‘For the near term, we’re going to be on this limited availability — which can cause delays across a number of the doses for each Mounjaro and Zepbound.
‘We are working so hard each day to make sure that that we increase that capability as fast as we will to get these medications into patients’ hands.’
Lilly is planning to open a brand new manufacturing facility in Concord, North Carolina, by the tip of the yr to spice up production.
Novo Nordisk — which makes Ozempic and Wegovy — opened a brand new manufacturing facility in Clayton, North Carolina, last yr to expand supply.