How well-off Brits still buy Ozempic online for weight loss

Kim Gradwell with an Ozempic injection needle at her home in Dudley, North Tyneside, Britain, October 31, 2023. Gradwell, a retired receptionist with type 2 diabetes, was not able to get her prescription for Ozempic filled in July through the country’s public health system amid shortages of the medicine that is in high demand from people without diabetes seeking it for its weight-loss effect. REUTERS/Lee Smith

LONDON (Reuters) - John, a tech executive who has been battling weight gain since his 30s, has a nine-month supply in his refrigerator. Kim Gradwell, a retired receptionist who developed type 2 diabetes nearly 20 years ago, isn't sure where she'll find her next dose.

The medicine is Ozempic – designed for type 2 diabetes, a life-threatening condition. It's so effective at helping people lose weight that supplies of the active ingredient, semaglutide, have run short in countries including Britain and the United States.