High demand for diabetes drug for weight loss leads to shortage: Lancet

HIGH demand for semaglutide, a medicine primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes, but became a blockbuster drug to reduce weight, led to severe shortages for patients who relied on it for managing and maintaining blood sugar levels, a recent Lancet article said.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @New Delhi

Published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the editorial said that GLP-1 receptor agonists, a class of medications used to treat adult type 2 diabetes and obesity, are now widely used for weight loss, both through prescriptions and off-label use.

"Their success is also changing the public perception of metabolic disease, helping to reframe it as a complex treatable condition rather than a personal failure," it said.

However, the growing reliance on expensive therapies raises concerns about sustainability and equity, especially in Low- or Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), it added.