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Comment by htek | Hacker News Reader

Our insurance just started covering Ozempic for weight loss, but they will only supply it via their online pharmacy for diabetes. If you are prescribed it for weight loss, you have to find it retail and pay a $200 copay. But at least it's for branded Ozempic, not grey market compounded meds. Mounjaro is the better product if you need for both weight loss and diabetes, but the supply on that is even worse than for Ozempic.

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Why are these drugs being advertised at every commercial break on TV when the supply is so limited?

Increased demand can justify the high prices? Companies generally want to have a backpressure of demand outstripping supply because then they can creep prices up without impacting sales.

Alternatively, if everyone is clamoring for the drug, maybe that influences regulators/lawmakers for what gets covered by Medicare. Honestly, the way people are talking about semaglutide - it could become a drug that is just provided to everyone who wants it, by default, paid by the government. (And would probably be a net positive ROI by the government - the amount of savings and increased productivity if America reduced obesity rates by 10+% would be incredible)

Most of the advertising I've seen has been from weight loss clinics or online pharmacies that will get you the prescription and perhaps sell you a compounded version rather than the Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly advertising their glp1.

They are rapidly scaling up supply, and most of the shortages have been dealt with according to the FDA and Novo Nordisk.

A cynic would say that some of those TV ads are to purchase influence with media companies and essentially buy favorable editorial coverage. More like stealth PR than something intended to drive consumer sales.

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