The chief executive of the drugmaker Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, is scheduled to face tough questions Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the high costs of the company’s widely popular weight-loss drugs.
Jørgensen will appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday starting at 10 a.m. ET.
The head of the committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been vocal about his frustrations over how much Novo Nordisk charges Americans for both Ozempic (used to treat type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (approved for weight loss).
“In general, we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Same exact medicine sold in Canada, Europe is a fraction of what it is in the United States,” Sanders said in an interview Monday. “The result of that is that hundreds of thousands of people in this country who desperately need this product will not be able to afford it.”
Trying not to be an ass, but of ALLLLLL the expensive prescription drugs out there, are weight loss drugs really where we need to be focusing our efforts on?
With the obesity epidemic in the US, yes.
An epidemic that is brought on by our lack of self-control and corporations’ greed for money, not genetics or disease
Greed is first, as the greed is why food labeling isn’t as clear as other countries because that would get in the way of profits. Then add in massive portions to get people in restaurant seats, rampant poverty due to policies that make food choice unaffordable for many, and the cultural glorification of excess and it becomes a less about self control and more about how hard it is to fight the cultural pressures that lead to obesity.
Agreed, and making a drug whose side effects are being touted more than the condition it was designed for won’t make it any better.
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. I’ve seen this being peddled on social media and if you’re exploring these avenues simply to lose weight you’re lazy and should just exercise more / control your diet.
You can say that as much as you want, but it won’t stop the obesity epidemic. “Just put in the work” won’t save millions from heart disease due to poor diet. Of course everyone could just start eating better. But clearly that hasn’t and will not work, so anything that can be used to help people be healthier and save lives, should be.
A sugar tax would help. Anything to force food producers to stop loading their food with sugar, fat and salt. Not making a drug cheaper.
The sugar issue took decades to get us here and will take decades to get us out. It’s not an overnight cause and effect. Meanwhile, my doctor thinks ozempic should be in the drinking water (tongue in cheek of course) because of the good it would do to society with immediate results.
I don’t know what to say to that. It’s like futurama’s solution to climate change. We know the problem, but it would be too hard and take too long to fix it, so let’s just do this short term solution and let the next few generations figure it out? Screw what effects it might cause to millions that might be allergic, or to millions who it does not work on. This shouldn’t be a stopgap to fixing issues.
Fuck off. I guarantee you that every single person considering medication to control weight has tried exercise and diet.
Bull shit, I know people that are not clinically obese fighting with their insurers to get this covered. If you think the main purchaser is someone who needs it, I wish I was as naïve as you.
You sound like a fat guy lmao
Because they are all phama shills? Mad that I’m right? Too much copium?
I was on your side, weird flex but ok
Flex? I’m sorry, I don’t understand