The next time you stop by Costco for a two-dollar pizza slice or bulk granola bars, you might be able to pick something else up: Ozempic.
Wholesale retailer Costco launched a new weight loss program last week in partnership with telehealth platform Sesame. For Costco members, it’s 179 dollars for the three-month subscription period.
Along with doctor consultations and nutrition guidance, the program can also prescribe weight loss drugs like Ozempic. But it’ll come at an extra price. Users can expect to spend between 950 to 1600 dollars a month.
Injectable drugs like Ozempic are used for weight loss by many celebrities, but they’re intended for type-two diabetes patients who have high blood sugar.
We spoke to Costco shoppers who are on Ozempic to treat their diabetes. Customer Wendy Weaver reacted to the drug being in the weight loss program.
Wendy Weaver: I thought since there’s a shortage of it, it was supposed to be really prescribed for people with diabetes first.
She said that Ozempic has helped control her blood sugar levels.
Weaver: So it helps. I mean, I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know about just for weight loss.
Other customers with diabetes, like Cherdchay Saetier, said weight loss isn’t their primary use for Ozempic.
Cherdchay Saetier: This, my doctor prescribed to me, so it’s helped me with the weight loss but mainly is for lower the blood sugar.
Costco prescribing Ozempic brings up concerns about making this drug more accessible to non-diabetes patients, since it’s not FDA-approved for weight loss specifically. But USC Professor Scott Kanoski, a co-director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute, says that increasing accessibility is a net positive.
Scott Kanoski: Making Ozempic and other GLP-1 analogs that are used for weight loss or diabetes, more affordable is certainly a good thing.
Kanoski said Ozempic is safe and effective, but research has only been conducted with people who have diabetes and/or obesity.
Kanoski: The impact of these GLP-1 analogs in healthy, lean individuals is a lot. It’s more poorly understood. So there’s just a lot that we don’t know about.
Ozempic has been labeled a ‘miracle drug’ by some online. Kanoski, however, says it shouldn’t be presented as the best and only solution for weight loss.
Kanoski: I think that our society would benefit from focusing more on prevention, prevention and differences in lifestyle and the food landscape if you will, because these these drugs, they’re not preventing anything. They’re just dealing with a problem once it’s already there.
So next time you stop for groceries, look into getting an Ozempic prescription if you meet the necessary health requirements. And, make sure you speak to your health care provider about what’s best for you.