While Ozempic and other weight loss drugs are often associated with Hollywood and celebrities, the southern United States actually has the highest prescription rates for these popular drugs.
Kentucky has the highest percentage of people with prescriptions for drugs called incretins. Bloomberg reportsThe data was taken from health tech company Purple Labs.
These drugs work by mimicking hormones that regulate blood sugar levels and suppress appetite. They were originally used to treat type 2 diabetes, but have become extremely popular due to their appetite-altering side effects. Popular brands of these medications include Ozempic, Wegovy, and others. Zepbound.
About 1 in 15 Kentucky residents, or 6.8 percent, have been prescribed one of these drugs. In second place is Alabama, followed by West Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia.
Among Kentucky cities, Bowling Green has the highest prescription rate. About 4% of the 74,000 residents of Kentucky’s third-largest city are prescribed incretin drugs. Rates in major U.S. metropolitan areas such as Brooklyn and Miami are closer to 1%.
According to Bloomberg, Bowling Green has the perfect conditions to become the nation’s weight-loss capital: Kentucky has the 10th highest obesity rate among U.S. states. Bowling Green also has a large middle-class population employed by large companies that offer insurance plans that cover these drugs.
But even though many people in Bowling Green have prescriptions for weight-loss drugs, like in other parts of the country, they are finding it increasingly difficult to receive them.
Due to the recent surge in demand for incretin drugs, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk The world’s most valuable pharmaceutical companiesBut keeping up with rising demand has been a challenge for these companies: Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s incretin drugs are both on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s shortage database.
Bloomberg reports that this Bowling Green Medical Spa and Pharmacy Small Industry They are selling counterfeit versions of these treatments.
