whose doctor refuses to prescribe it because "there is a shortage".

I'm sorry, what? I would get a new doctor because that's dumb as fuck. If there is a shortage it isn't anything that has to do with the doctor, that's business between your friend and the pharmacist

Not on paper. Even mainstream media acknowledges that one single drug from one single company is making the difference between growth and recession.

The political power of shipping giant Mærsk is well-understood by many Danes but it is very rarely you hear anyone talk about the power wielded by Novo. If Mærsk can strongarm the Danish government into doing basically anything it wants, so can Novo.

Americans are by and large swine, sure, but that doesn't mean we have to indulge in idealism and pretend that the American people as a body actually have any input or control over any of this shit. Electoralism is a dead end by design, it's not operator error when it does what it's supposed to

I understand the passion, but technically speaking single payer healthcare is popular among the populace. We will never get it because of the whole dictatorship of the bourgeois thing.

americans have gotten the government they deserve.

this is literally liberalism

if you think you deserve this then that's your problem

you probably meant it as a joke, but it's original and intended use was for type-2 diabetes

There is anecdotal talk it may help with addiction/addictive behaviors

I mean it may manifest that way for some people, seeing as nausea is the #1 side effect but overall no, that's not how it's intended to work. It binds to the same sorts of receptors as GLP-1 which plays a variety of roles in digestion, but it isn't as easily broken down (normal GLP-1 has a half life of only a few minutes) so it sticks around and stays effective longer. The net effect is that digestion slows down and hunger is reduced (there are receptors in the brain as well as the pancreas, so it affects cravings as well as just blood sugar/insulin response)

something vaguely like that anyhow, I'm not a doctor

Type 2 diabetes patients are almost universally covered by insurance in the US.

For patients with obesity that require medical management, the coverage would depend on the specific insurance providers.

For people who want to use it to lose weight but does not have diabetes and BMI < 35, insurance providers will not cover and you’d have to pay the full price.

It has become just as trendy in all the other countries as well and a flourishing grey market for the drug exists everywhere you have weight-conscious people with disposable income.

The difference in price between the US and developed countries is purely the uniquely parasitical nature of American healthcare.

why do you talk like that

Does it not work well? Before GLP-1 agonists your options for weight-loss drugs were pretty limited. Stimulants work well but they have lots of side effects, put much increased stress on the circulatory system, and aren't sustainable long term (also extremely difficult for working people to obtain in the age of the drug war). There have been other weight-loss drugs but many have been withdrawn because of the risks associated with them.

As far as I know, GLP-1 agonists are some of the most effective and safest weight loss drugs discovered so far

As long as we live in a slop-based society where it's completely on the individual to not destroy their body with the garbage food available I think these drugs will be quite popular

It's more overcharge in the US than the opposite. Also I don't really understand your question I guess, because the US does not have a higher income than other countries, except for a few jobs