The B-C government is taking immediate action to ensure diabetes patients have access to the drug Ozempic, which is highly effective at controlling blood sugar levels but has been overwhelmed by celebrity interest in its potent weight loss side-effects.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says the ministry is enacting a new regulation to protect not only the supply of Ozempic in B-C, but other drugs that may need the same protection in future.
The new regulation means only B-C residents, other Canadian citizens or permanent residents can buy Ozempic at provincial pharmacies – either in person or online.
The changes come after the discovery that 15 per cent of Ozempic prescriptions in the province were being filled by two Vancouver pharmacies for shipment to the United States.
