Western Canada: Americans flock to B.C. to buy Ozempic, touted as a weight-loss drug

Good morning. Wendy Cox in Vancouver here.

An internal investigation by B.C.’s Health Ministry has discovered the province has been acting as an unwitting drugstore for Americans wanting to get their hands on a diabetes drug that has been touted for its success in helping patients lose weight.

Health Minister Adrian Dix held a news conference Tuesday to reveal that his ministry had found almost 13,000 U.S. residents had obtained Ozempic from B.C. pharmacies in January and February alone, amounting to almost a fifth of all the Ozempic prescriptions in the province.

The investigation found almost all of the prescriptions – 95 per cent – were issued by “one or more” prescribers in Nova Scotia and most were fulfilled by two pharmacies in the Vancouver area.

“This is concerning and, in my view, it has to stop,” Mr. Dix added. “We don’t have enough Ozempic in British Columbia to satisfy the American market.”

Justine Hunter wrote that demand for Ozempic has driven shortages of the medication in the United States, which has made obtaining it more difficult for people with Type 2 diabetes. Canada experienced a temporary national shortage of the drug’s one-milligram format in March. British Columbia does not have a shortage right now, Mr. Dix said, but “the trend is in that direction.”

Increasingly, U.S. customers are turning to Canadian online pharmacies to purchase drugs at what, to them, are discount prices. A month’s supply of Ozempic in B.C. costs roughly $300. The price in the U.S. can be three times higher.

Mr. Dix said his government will amend its regulations to curb the sale of Ozempic to people outside of Canada, with the aim of ensuring that B.C. patients with Type 2 diabetes can access it. He is also asking the province’s relevant regulatory colleges to ensure that doctors and pharmacists dispensing Ozempic are complying with the product’s approved use. Weight loss is a side effect of Ozempic, but it is not approved for use as a weight-loss treatment.

Mr. Dix said he is not seeking sanctions against the two Metro Vancouver pharmacies that have been sending the drug south. The province’s College of Pharmacists said it is assessing the situation to determine next steps.

Mr. Dix wants the regulatory agency for Nova Scotia’s physicians to investigate the conduct of the doctors there who seem to be working on what he called an internet-based sales scheme. The registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia said he had no knowledge of the scheme and first heard about it through the media.

Ozempic can help patients manage blood sugar levels, but it has become wildly popular among people wanting to lose weight.

Globe health reporter Carly Weeks reported in January that manufacturer Novo Nordisk has created a version of Ozempic aimed at helping patients with obesity. She reported that the results of one clinical trial of people taking the drug, Wegovy, showed they lost 10 to 15 per cent or more of their body weight over 68 weeks, but even more dramatic results are being reported anecdotally.

Health Canada approved Wegovy in November, 2021, and Novo Nordisk planned to launch the drug here in the fall of 2022. But because of overwhelming demand in other countries – particularly the U.S. – Wegovy’s entry in Canada has been sidelined indefinitely.

An analysis in August by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, an independent organization that advises governments on drug policy, found that in some provinces 36 per cent to 74 per cent of non-public drug plan claims for Ozempic were from people who likely did not have Type 2 diabetes.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.