As demand for the weight-loss drug Wegovy continues to soar, the pharmaceutical company that makes it has increased the supply of the lowest dose of the medication.
That will allow more Americans to start taking the drug, Novo Nordisk announced on Jan. 31, 2024, according to NBC News.
The starter dose of Wegovy is usually given to new patients to ease into the treatment with the least amount of side effects.
But demand is so high that the company had been restricting the supply of that lowest dose since May 2023 to avoid shortages of higher doses for patients already taking the drug.
As of January 2024, Novo Nordisk has begun to gradually increase the amount of the starter dose available, CNBC reported.
After losing 30 pounds with Wegovy, Craig Hollingsworth says he plans on taking the medication for as long as he can — perhaps indefinitely.
He worries about regaining the weight if he stops — a known consequence for patients who halt the therapy — and has started to think of Wegovy as similar to the medications he takes long-term to control his high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Hollingsworth, 65, has experienced side effects including nausea, constipation and muscle weakness since starting Wegovy seven months ago, but says they’re worth the weight loss: he’s dropped from 245 pounds to 215. His goal weight is 200 pounds.
“It was easy, which was nice… it was almost like magic the way the pounds just fell away,” Hollingsworth, a technical writer who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, tells TODAY.com about weight loss with Wegovy.
“I felt full faster so I didn’t eat as much… (and) I lost interest in the food. It was very easy to push things away.”
Hollingsworth says he doesn’t worry about how the drug could potentially affect his body if he takes it for years or decades. But his physician, Dr. Christopher McGowan, says the patients in his Cary, North Carolina, weight loss clinic often bring up a very legitimate concern: Is this really safe to…
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