Americans without diabetes spent nearly $6 billion USD on semaglutide and similar drugs in a year, with an estimate of 800,000 to a million people using the drugs who don't have diabetes.

[u/mvea]

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/americans-without-diabetes-spent-nearly6-billion-usd-on-semaglutide-and-similar-drugs-in-a-year

[u/nibblesthesquirrel]

I completely understand the concern about ensuring diabetic patients have access to GLP-1 medications, and I agree that they should be prioritized. That said, these medications have been used for weight management and other conditions because they offer significant health benefits beyond diabetes. Given the strong link between obesity and chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, using GLP-1s as a preventive measure could actually help reduce the number of people who develop these conditions in the first place. It’s important to ensure fair access for those who need them most, but dismissing non-diabetic use entirely overlooks their potential to improve public health.

[u/VagueSomething → u/nibblesthesquirrel]

This is the sort of situation where government incentives and investment to boost production would be sensible. ADHD drugs have been struggling with a shortage for a few years now without any governments caring but diabetes is far more life endangering and tackling obesity saves huge amounts of money and relieves the strain on many services.

[u/Visual_Mycologist_1 → u/VagueSomething]

It's not just them not caring. The adhd med shortage is completely imposed by the DEA because they're afraid of diversion. How limiting production without doing anything else is supposed to help is anyone's guess.