Brantford, Ont. pharmacy already seeing demand for weight loss drug Wegovy
Canadians struggling with obesity have another option at the pharmacy.
Wegovy, from the company behind Ozempic, is now available across Canada.
In Brantford, Ont., pharmacist Ramez Girgis has been helping customer Yvette with her weight loss journey.
“I was on Ozempic,” she explained to CTV News. “However, it was recommended that I go over to Wegovy because it’s covered by my health insurance.”
She came into Guardian Discount Pharmacy on Wednesday to pick a different prescription when Girgis let her know the drug was now in stock.
“This is terrific for me, to assist in getting my health back,” Yvette explained.
She’s not alone.
“We, at Guardian, started two patients on Wegovy already. Their insurance covered it,” Girgis said.
There’s been so much interest in the drug that he’s been fielding calls from curious customers before it was even available in Canada.
Wegovy is an injectable drug that people take on a weekly basis. It contains the same medication as Ozempic – semaglutide.
“It works by sending a message to your brain, to let the brain know: ‘I am full, I don’t need any more food,’” explained Girgis.
But there are differences between the two drugs. Wegovy, unlike Ozempic, was specifically created to help people who meet a certain criteria related to their weight.
“The patient’s body mass index has to be 27, with a co-morbid chronic medical condition – diabetes, hypertension, whatnot,” Girgis said. “The other thing is, if the patient’s body mass index is 30 and above, they are good candidates for Wegovy.”
Not just anyone can take the drug, however.
It must be prescribed by a licensed healthcare professional, like a doctor or nurse practitioner.
Girgis also explained that people with a history of thyroid cancer, pancreatic or kidney problems, or have serious allergies to semaglutide, wouldn’t be good candidates for Wegovy. He said the drug has 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide in the weekly injectable, compared to the 1.0 milligrams in a single Ozempic dose.
READ MORE: How Wegovy works and reported side effects
Wegovy is expected to cost patients about $400 a month and it’s not clear if medical insurance plans will cover it.
Girgis said he’s encouraged by what he’s seen so far.
“I would say it’s too early to see all the insurance companies jumping in to cover that for weight loss. But as of yet, I’ve seen actually two insurances that are already covering patients for Wegovy.”
Girgis also hopes on-label use of Wegovy will cut down on shortages associated with off-label use of Ozempic.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
NDP want Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.
Israel's war cabinet minister moves to dissolve parliament: statement
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve parliament in a bid to bring about an early election, his party said in a statement on Thursday.
DEVELOPING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Exorbitant fees get Gazans out with no help from Ottawa
The comforting sound of giggling grandchildren has chased away the cloud of anxiety that has loomed over Mohammed and Intisar Nofal's home for the past seven months.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., begins RBC Canadian Open defence
Nick Taylor begins the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title this morning.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.