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Comment by magic_smoke_ee | Hacker News Reader

Something (Wegovy) I need for medication-induced obesity, but cannot afford ($250/month or $3k/year out of pocket) because Medicare won't cover it. Even when it is "covered", it's a "specialty tier medication" that is even more expensive than that.

Most people forget that US Medicare isn't true universal, single-payer healthcare and is an excessively-complex, oft corporation-involved, half-measure. It is mostly better than Medicaid, healthcare for the very poor, which is even worse. Medicare Advantage is a total scam.

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Have you looked into getting it compounded?

Compounding pharmacies can make generic semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy. It's a synthetic chemical, so the medication should be functionally equivalent, although the FDA points out that in some cases compounding pharmacies make the wrong thing/dosage [1]. When done this way, the drug is not FDA-approved. But may be worth a shot.

Manufacturers are also complaining about patent infringement [1], so we will see how long this practice lasts.

[1] https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information...

[2] https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/20/nx...

Yes. That's the compounded price because the cheapest retail price of Wegovy for 4 weeks near me is $1311. It's compounded with vitamin b6 as a hackaround for $250. The manufacturing of semaglutide outside of Novo Nordisk was legally possible because of the scarcity problem. I don't feel at all bad because NN's CEO is a greedy prick who lacks shame about selectively bleeding poor Americans dry while selling it cheaper in the rest of the world.

https://glp1forum.com/

Buy your own tirzepatide from china. QSC batches all have purity tests, and cost about $200 for 400mg which will last a good year at a reasonable dose regimen

Don't you think I thought of that?

1. The reputation and business license of my local compounding pharmacy is on the line, so they cannot afford to sell anything fake.

2. Buying from China is likely fake crap, with fake purity tests.

Why would I gamble with my life to save 20% when I have a trustworthy source given to me from my doctor (who is not receiving any sort of kickback but is familiar with this specific opportunistic workaround)?

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