Rise and shine, everyone. The middle of the week is upon us. Have heart, though. You made it this far, so why not hang on for another couple of days, yes? And what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation — our flavor today is mocha marshmallow — and get started. Meanwhile, do keep us in mind if you hear anything saucy. Our in-basket has been outfitted to accept postcards and telegrams. Have a smashing day. …
Eli Lilly says that all doses of its new Mounjaro diabetes drug are now available after social-media enthusiasm about weight-loss benefits sparked a two-month-long shortage, Bloomberg News tells us. The drug was approved in the U.S. last May to help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels. Mounjaro is part of a group of diabetes treatments known as GLP-1s that have shown outsize potential for weight loss. Some of the drugs, including Mounjaro, are being recommended by doctors for weight loss even though they have not been explicitly approved as an obesity treatment in a common practice known as off-label prescribing.
Meanwhile, another GLP-1, Ozempic, has become so popular among people seeking to lose weight that it is now in short supply for patients with diabetes who depend on the medicines, The Wall Street Journal adds. Diabetes patients said they are spending hours trying to find nearby pharmacies that have their prescriptions in stock. If they do not, some patients have had to reduce dosing of Ozempic and similar drugs to stretch out their supplies, or switch to alternative drugs. Novo Nordisk which sells Ozempic, has been moving to expand production capacity, but people may still experience periodic shortages because production work has not been finished.
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