The B.C. authorities has introduced that the variety of Ozempic prescriptions being disbursed to People has plummeted by no less than 99 per cent after the province enacted new laws and a physician behind an “unusually excessive share” of prescriptions was quickly suspended.
From Jan. 1 to April 19 of this 12 months, 30,700 Ozempic prescriptions had been disbursed to U.S. residents by B.C. pharmacies. Between April 20 and Might 31, that very same quantity dropped to 111 — a 99.6 per cent discount, in response to a press launch from the B.C. Ministry of Well being.
The Ministry advised World Information again in January that it was monitoring B.C.’s provide of Ozempic, a Kind 2 diabetes drug that has made headlines for its off-label use as an weight problems remedy, due to “latest social media traits and shortages in the US.”
It seems these U.S. shortages had been driving People to hunt out the drug in Canada, driving fears that Canada would additionally face an Ozempic scarcity in consequence. Throughout the first two months of 2023, B.C. found that as much as 15 per cent of the drug’s prescriptions within the province had been being despatched south of the border.
On April 19, the province introduced a brand new regulation that bars non-residents from shopping for Ozempic on-line and thru mail-order gross sales. This doesn’t influence Canadians’ entry to the drug, nevertheless it implies that if an American needs to get an Ozempic prescription crammed in B.C., they should buy it in individual.
The regulation got here after the province found that simply two on-line B.C. pharmacies had crammed 88 per cent of all prescriptions going to U.S. residents, and that 95 per cent of these prescriptions had been being written by a single doctor from Nova Scotia.
On April 6, Nova Scotia’s Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons introduced it had quickly suspended the physician in query, who had written no less than 17,000 prescriptions for Ozempic inside three months.
That physician has been recognized as Dr. David Davison, a Nova-Scotia-licensed doctor based mostly in Odessa, Texas, who graduated from Dalhousie College in 1977.
Davison retained a Nova Scotia licence to observe medication as a non-resident, although he hasn’t practised within the province “for a few years,” mentioned Dr. Gus Grant, registrar and CEO of Nova Scotia’s Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons.
Grant mentioned the faculty suspended the physician’s licence on an “interim” foundation and launched a full investigation, calling it a “severe matter.”
“Primarily based on quantity alone, the prescribing isn’t consistent with the requirements of the occupation,” Grant mentioned in an announcement. “I can’t see how the quantity of medicines prescribed might presumably be supported by correct medical evaluation and judgment. On its face, the prescribing seems incompetent.”
Grant mentioned it’s incumbent on medical doctors licensed in Nova Scotia to uphold correct prescription practices “whether or not the care is delivered in-person or by the use of digital medication.”
As for the 2 on-line pharmacies based mostly in B.C. that disbursed 1000’s of Ozempic prescriptions to People, B.C. introduced that the Faculty of Pharmacists is engaged in an ongoing investigation.
The province notes that B.C. pharmacies can fill prescriptions written by U.S. medical doctors if they’re co-signed by a Canadian practitioner.
Ozempic is a brand-name diabetes medicine manufactured by Novo Nordisk, however the medical ingredient in it’s known as semaglutide. Semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which stimulates the discharge of insulin and helps to cut back blood sugar spikes.
Semaglutide can also be efficient at regulating eating regimen by focusing on areas of the mind that make an individual really feel extra full, and as such, is used as a weight-loss remedy.
Novo Nordisk really manufactures two medicine the place semaglutide is the one medical ingredient: Ozempic for Kind 2 diabetes, and Wegovy for weight problems. Each medicine have been authorized to be used in Canada — Ozempic since 2018 and Wegovy since 2021.
No Wegovy prescription has ever been crammed in Canada, nonetheless, due to ongoing world shortages. Novo Nordisk mentioned it needed to postpone the drug’s launch in Canada attributable to “unprecedented demand.”
Each Wegovy and Ozempic are administered by way of weekly injections. The one obvious distinction between the 2 medicine is that Wegovy could be injected at a barely greater dosage, in response to Novo Nordisk medical factsheets.
— With information from The Canadian Press
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