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December 16, 2020
Announcements, Living With Diabetes, News & Media
Big news today for the 200,000 British Columbians living with Type 2 diabetes who are overweight or who have a history of heart attack or stroke. Today BC Pharmacare announced coverage of semaglutide (“Ozempic”), a once-a-week shot, for individuals living with Type 2 diabetes on oral medication alone (metformin & glyburide) or on insulin plus metformin.
Semaglutide is very effective at lowering sugar and lowering weight; for those with a history of heart attack and stroke it reduces the risk of death by almost 20%. The shot is almost painless; the technique can be learned in minutes. The only common side-effect is nausea which occurs in 10% of individuals and often settles with time. The usual maintenance dose is 1.0 mg weekly.
BC Pharmacare coverage is subject to the annual deductible which resets every January 1. Once an individual hits their deductible (2% of net family income) a 70% subsidy kicks in reducing the daily cost from $7.00 to $2.10 per day.