A prescription weight-loss drug embraced by celebrities now has the green light in New Zealand.
Wegovy injections limit appetite and reduce food cravings.
It will cost patients between $600 to $1,000 a month - and will be used to target obesity here as soon as possible.
GP and physician at the Weightless Clinic Dr Lara Courtenay says this medication is meant to help Kiwis who are seriously struggling with obesity.
"All the studies were actually done with a very low-calorie diet, alongside increase in exercise - so whoever goes on it should be doing all of those things."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A popular weight loss drug made famous by its celebrity users,
has been approved by Medsafe Today. We'regov. A sister drug
of ozepic has proven effective to help people lose up
to five percent of their weight. Doctor Lara Courtney is
a GP and a bariantric physician at the Weightless Clinic
in Auckland and she's with me now, good afternoon. Hi.
(00:22):
So this waygov. This is for weight loss as opposed
to diabetes, which is the ozepic one. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yes, it's the same medication as ozempic, but it's there
have been trials done and it's been rebranded as we
go be so it's exactly the same drug, just at
different doses based on the trials.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
And this is for weight loss. So how big would
you have to be to get this way? Govy.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I don't actually know what the rules are yet in
New Zealand. But for sexender, which is Lyra glue tide,
which is a similar type of medication that's a once
a day injectable, you have to be a BMI over
thirty or a BMI of over twenty seven with a
comorbidity related to obesity. So I'm not sure what the
rules will be yet, but I'm assuming it will be similar.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Okay, so you have to you have to be pretty
serious on the on the obesity spectrum in order to
get this. Still, it's not like you, you know, I
want to lose a few pounds. I've gone to the
gym for a week. I'll try way, GOVI No, no,
it's not.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's not like that at all. And actually all the
trials are done with lifestyle change and an increase in
physical activity, So whoever's doing the prescribing should be also
talking to you about diet change and lifestyle change. So
it is actually indicated for all the studies, we're actually
done with a very low calorie diet alongside increase in exercise,
(01:47):
So whoever goes on it should be doing all those
things together. You can't just take the medication and expect
it to sort of change your life.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
What does the medication do then? Does it make you
eat less or does it make you eat better?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I've actually had quite a few patients who have
sourced this medication from overseas over the last few years,
so I've spoken to them about it, and it makes
you feel full throughout the day. What a lot of
patients say it does is it reduces their food noise
and when you eat, you don't want to eat as
large volumes. But the risk is we don't want people
(02:21):
not eating, and I think that has been happening overseas.
We've got people going really high doses, not managed by
comprehensive team and then just not eating. But the whole
point of this is to take it and then eat
a healthier balanced diet while you're on it and lose
weight in a healthy way.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Are there long term side effects we don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
There could be. I mean these are new medications. The
other medication that I talked about earlier has been around
about ten years. But in terms of what they're finding
out recently about we go Be and Ozimpic is that
you might get a reduction in muscle mass you're on
it long term. So I think it is important again
that we start implementing checking people's muscle mass. In Australia,
(03:06):
they're checking what's called a grip strength test and doing
those body composition scans. So I think we just do
need to now check that patients that are being monitored
while they're on it, because it has been abused overseas.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's interesting because muscle mass is obviously very important if
you go over the age of fifty sixty, if you're
in your seventies, you need muscle otherwise you're fall We
know that's a big problem right.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Totally, so we shouldn't be deconditioning people. They should be
getting stronger and healthier. And also also the medications overseas
they are being used. You would have seen for the
oscars and things like that ful weight loss, but that's
not what it's indicated for. So hopefully in New Zealand
doctors stick to the prescribing rules.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
What does it cost?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh, I don't actually know. In Australia they do have
a pricing schedule, but sex enders around five fifty a months,
so it should be similar to that.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's not fun.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They haven't released it.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
It's not going to be fun as far as we know.
Farmac's not going to fund it, so it'll be up
to you totally.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, it'll be up to the patient to pay.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Is this is this a drug you would take as
opposed to getting bariatric surgery.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I think there are some calculations you can do. It
depends about how much weight loss you need to achieve.
So I think if you're needing to if your BMIs
over thirty five, you qualify for bariatric surgery. Often, if
you add up the amount of months you need to
be on this medicine, it is better to be on
barrier to have bariatric surgery. So, but for some people
(04:41):
it definitely will be an alternative.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Do you think it could be abused here? Will doctors
start handing it out like candy?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I hope not, but that is a risk. It's happened overseas.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Fascinating stuff. Thanks very much for coming on the show
explaining that to us. Doctor Laura Courtney GP and bariatric
physician at the Weightless Clinic and All Clinic. Just gone
quarter past four news talks B. I do want to
let you know, well a couple of things. First of all,
Waggovi has come out and said to get this drug
you have and people described it as a miracle drug.
To get this, you have to be overweight, and there's
(05:14):
a definition you can look up for that, but you
have to be overweight, and you have to have a
comorbidity like high cholesterol or diabetes or heart disease or
something like that. In theory, but overseas. I mean, I've
got friends who are on it in Australia and they
just go around the fancy suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney
and they go to the right doctors and they just
ask for it and they get it despite the fact
(05:35):
they've you know, probably not got a lot wrong with
them other than they want to lose some weight. Now,
doctor Laura has taken money. I wanted to make this
clear to everyone. Taken money to speak on behalf of
both these drug companies. She told me she does it
for educational purposes. She works at a private clinic doing
this stuff. They don't give out scripts willy nilly there
they have to go. You have to get a doctor,
(05:56):
go to a dietitian first, all that kind of stuff.
But just interesting that doctors can get money from big
farmer In New Zealand. I didn't realize it was a thing.
But there is a register. It's not illegal here. You
just have to declare it. There's a register. Doctors and
health professionals got about six hundred thousand dollars in total
from thirteen companies in twenty twenty three. So there you go.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Listen live to News Talk sai'd Be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
A popular weight loss drug made famous by its celebrity users,
has been approved by Medsafe Today. We'regov. A sister drug
of ozepic has proven effective to help people lose up
to five percent of their weight. Doctor Lara Courtney is
a GP and a bariantric physician at the Weightless Clinic
in Auckland and she's with me now, good afternoon. Hi.
(00:22):
So this waygov. This is for weight loss as opposed
to diabetes, which is the ozepic one. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yes, it's the same medication as ozempic, but it's there
have been trials done and it's been rebranded as we
go be so it's exactly the same drug, just at
different doses based on the trials.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
And this is for weight loss. So how big would
you have to be to get this way? Govy.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I don't actually know what the rules are yet in
New Zealand. But for sexender, which is Lyra glue tide,
which is a similar type of medication that's a once
a day injectable, you have to be a BMI over
thirty or a BMI of over twenty seven with a
comorbidity related to obesity. So I'm not sure what the
rules will be yet, but I'm assuming it will be similar.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Okay, so you have to you have to be pretty
serious on the on the obesity spectrum in order to
get this. Still, it's not like you, you know, I
want to lose a few pounds. I've gone to the
gym for a week. I'll try way, GOVI No, no,
it's not.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's not like that at all. And actually all the
trials are done with lifestyle change and an increase in
physical activity, So whoever's doing the prescribing should be also
talking to you about diet change and lifestyle change. So
it is actually indicated for all the studies, we're actually
done with a very low calorie diet alongside increase in exercise,
(01:47):
So whoever goes on it should be doing all those
things together. You can't just take the medication and expect
it to sort of change your life.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
What does the medication do then? Does it make you
eat less or does it make you eat better?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I've actually had quite a few patients who have
sourced this medication from overseas over the last few years,
so I've spoken to them about it, and it makes
you feel full throughout the day. What a lot of
patients say it does is it reduces their food noise
and when you eat, you don't want to eat as
large volumes. But the risk is we don't want people
(02:21):
not eating, and I think that has been happening overseas.
We've got people going really high doses, not managed by
comprehensive team and then just not eating. But the whole
point of this is to take it and then eat
a healthier balanced diet while you're on it and lose
weight in a healthy way.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Are there long term side effects we don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
There could be. I mean these are new medications. The
other medication that I talked about earlier has been around
about ten years. But in terms of what they're finding
out recently about we go Be and Ozimpic is that
you might get a reduction in muscle mass you're on
it long term. So I think it is important again
that we start implementing checking people's muscle mass. In Australia,
(03:06):
they're checking what's called a grip strength test and doing
those body composition scans. So I think we just do
need to now check that patients that are being monitored
while they're on it, because it has been abused overseas.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's interesting because muscle mass is obviously very important if
you go over the age of fifty sixty, if you're
in your seventies, you need muscle otherwise you're fall We
know that's a big problem right.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Totally, so we shouldn't be deconditioning people. They should be
getting stronger and healthier. And also also the medications overseas
they are being used. You would have seen for the
oscars and things like that ful weight loss, but that's
not what it's indicated for. So hopefully in New Zealand
doctors stick to the prescribing rules.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
What does it cost?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Oh, I don't actually know. In Australia they do have
a pricing schedule, but sex enders around five fifty a months,
so it should be similar to that.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's not fun.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They haven't released it.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
It's not going to be fun as far as we know.
Farmac's not going to fund it, so it'll be up
to you totally.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, it'll be up to the patient to pay.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Is this is this a drug you would take as
opposed to getting bariatric surgery.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I think there are some calculations you can do. It
depends about how much weight loss you need to achieve.
So I think if you're needing to if your BMIs
over thirty five, you qualify for bariatric surgery. Often, if
you add up the amount of months you need to
be on this medicine, it is better to be on
barrier to have bariatric surgery. So, but for some people
(04:41):
it definitely will be an alternative.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Do you think it could be abused here? Will doctors
start handing it out like candy?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I hope not, but that is a risk. It's happened overseas.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Fascinating stuff. Thanks very much for coming on the show
explaining that to us. Doctor Laura Courtney GP and bariatric
physician at the Weightless Clinic and All Clinic. Just gone
quarter past four news talks B. I do want to
let you know, well a couple of things. First of all,
Waggovi has come out and said to get this drug
you have and people described it as a miracle drug.
To get this, you have to be overweight, and there's
(05:14):
a definition you can look up for that, but you
have to be overweight, and you have to have a
comorbidity like high cholesterol or diabetes or heart disease or
something like that. In theory, but overseas. I mean, I've
got friends who are on it in Australia and they
just go around the fancy suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney
and they go to the right doctors and they just
ask for it and they get it despite the fact
(05:35):
they've you know, probably not got a lot wrong with
them other than they want to lose some weight. Now,
doctor Laura has taken money. I wanted to make this
clear to everyone. Taken money to speak on behalf of
both these drug companies. She told me she does it
for educational purposes. She works at a private clinic doing
this stuff. They don't give out scripts willy nilly there
they have to go. You have to get a doctor,
(05:56):
go to a dietitian first, all that kind of stuff.
But just interesting that doctors can get money from big
farmer In New Zealand. I didn't realize it was a thing.
But there is a register. It's not illegal here. You
just have to declare it. There's a register. Doctors and
health professionals got about six hundred thousand dollars in total
from thirteen companies in twenty twenty three. So there you go.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Listen live to News Talk sai'd Be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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