I got the flu for free and I’ve lost a good ten pounds this week.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Ozempic could be profitably produced for less than $5 a month even as maker Novo Nordisk A/S charges almost $1,000 in the US, according to a study that revives questions about prices for top-selling treatments for diabetes and obesity.

The blockbuster drug could be manufactured for 89 cents to $4.73 for a month’s supply, figures that include a profit margin, researchers at Yale University, King’s College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders reported in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study extends research showing how steep US markups are for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy and underlines longstanding criticism of prices for diabetes therapies, especially insulin.

By some estimates, however, the reductions made those products more profitable because they eliminated rebates paid to pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate prices for payers and employers.

State health plans and Medicaid offices are seeing growing bills for Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy, raising questions about whether the increases in cost are sustainable.

In January, North Carolina cut off coverage of anti-obesity medicines for state employees, citing soaring costs and lack of agreement on pricing from drugmakers.

The original article contains 795 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

I mean, with stuff like insulin, or cancer treatment, I’m totally against price gouging, but OZEMPIC? That’s a voluntary weight loss supplement. As far as I’m concerned, they can charge whatever the hell they please. There’s always diet / exercise for free. I say this as someone whose weight has fluctuated quite a bit in my life. Any time I let myself go, I knew exactly what I had to do to fix it. I’m currently bouncing back from a period like that and back to working out 4 or 5 times a week and eating less. Shocker, but I’ve lost weight and feel better. Ozempic is right there with liposuction. U can do it if you want to be lazy, but you gotta pay. I’m ok with that.