Rush on diet drugs Doctors are overrun with weight loss injections
Weight loss injections such as Wegovy or Ozempic are in high demand. In Switzerland, too, there is a veritable rush for these supposed miracle drugs. Doctors are at the limit.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In Switzerland, too, there's a run on anti-inflammatory syringes, which are increasingly becoming a lifestyle product.
- However, the high demand and strict requirements of the FOPH are leading to an overload in specialized centers and the doctors working there.
- In addition, patients want the preparations as quickly as possible, resulting in prescriptions without the necessary cost approval.
The demand for weight loss injections is unbroken. Diet preparations such as Wegovy, Ozempic or Saxenda are also popular as lifestyle products. However, this is increasingly leading to overcrowding at specialized hospitals in Switzerland, writes the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.
"It has almost destroyed our business," says a director of a Swiss diabetes and obesity center to the newspaper. The doctor with the fictitious name Markus Schmid wants to remain anonymous because he fears that otherwise even more patients will visit the center. They all want the coveted weight loss injections. Schmid says: "I simply don't have the capacity for that".
Colleagues suddenly slimmer
What's more, according to the newspaper, around a third of the slimming syringes are procured at the patient's own expense. They are therefore also becoming a lifestyle product, as the head of the center notes with amusement: "Some of our slightly overweight colleagues at the hospital have suddenly become much slimmer in recent years".
But it's not just the large number of patients that is putting a strain on the medical profession. Strict regulations from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) are also making life difficult for doctors in specialist centers. However, the high prices, side effects and possibly still unknown long-term consequences have also made this necessary.
"There is uncontrolled growth"
In order for weight loss products to be covered by basic insurance, a so-called cost approval must be obtained from the health insurance company for each patient. After 16 weeks, this must be applied for again and a weight loss of five to seven percent must be proven. Subsequently, a new application must be submitted to the insurance company every six months, in which weight loss and physical activity must be documented.
According to Schmid, the center must therefore "apply for a cost approval seven times per patient for a three-year therapy". There are also queries from the insurance companies. "The administrative effort is huge," says the doctor.
In addition, there are a large number of patients who have received weight loss injections from registered doctors without a cost approval. "It's uncontrolled growth," says Schmid. The patients in question then come to the center and the missed cost approvals have to be obtained retroactively from the health insurance companies.
Patients are impatient
One reason for the many prescriptions without cost approvals is that patients want the weight loss injections as quickly as possible.
Diabetics also felt the effects of this, especially during the supply shortages last year, reports Schmid. They should take the medication as continuously as possible. In contrast, some obese people have been carrying their excess weight around with them for decades.
Since March 2023, Wegovy has been covered by health insurance and is also available, meaning that the situation in Switzerland has eased somewhat. However, this also means that even more patients are now coming to the center. "The market is flooded," says Schmid.
