“We are only at the beginning”: Ozempic prescriptions reimbursed by RAMQ have almost quintupled over the past four years

The craze for the drug Ozempic is not slowing down in Quebec, where the number of prescriptions reimbursed for diabetics has almost quintupled in four years.

• Also read: Bariatric surgery will not be replaced by drugs like Ozempic, doctors think

“That doesn’t surprise me at all. […] We’re only at the beginning,” says the D^r Simon Marceau, specialized in bariatric surgery at the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec (IUCPQ).

From 2020 to 2024, the number of people with an Ozempic prescription reimbursed by the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ) increased from 16,500 to more than 74,000 per year, according to data obtained by The Journal.

It’s expensive

Costs have also skyrocketed (see table).

Ozempic is an injectable medication for type 2 diabetes. But its popularity has exploded in recent years since it is also an effective appetite suppressant, which helps you lose weight.

By email, the RAMQ specifies that the portrait remains incomplete, since the public plan covers a little less than half of Quebecers. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, is only reimbursed for diabetes and not for obesity. Many private plans also report that diabetes costs are on the rise.

«[L’Ozempic] would not have become a social phenomenon without being a good medicine. It is the most powerful for lowering blood sugar levels,” underlines Dr.^r Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret, director of the diabetes clinic at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM).

In addition to weight loss, the drug also improves the heart and kidney health of patients, he continues, adding that there are up to 600,000 diabetics in Quebec.

Too many ads

The latter, however, denounces the “advertising truncheon” of the manufacturer of Ozempic, and its tablet version, Rybelsus. Ubiquitous advertising, especially during the Olympic Games, leads to use that is “neither useful nor rational”.

Diabetic for around 15 years, Marie-Chrystine Savard has been taking Ozempic for around three years, to maintain her weight loss following bariatric surgery.

If the medication still makes her eat “mini portions,” she warns of the side effects, which have never faded over the years.

“I have two or three days of feeling dizzy, feeling sick, feeling very tired,” she confides.

Refund or not?

Various doctors are calling for extending reimbursement for Ozempic to obese patients, who will end up accumulating complications costing the health system more and more.

“If we don’t tackle chronic diseases soon, we’re going to hit a wall,” says the D^re Marie-Philippe Morin of the IUCPQ. She deplores the fact that the government is categorically preventing RAMQ from covering obesity medication.

The D^r Rabasa-Lhoret understands that the costs would be too high. Ozempic costs $300 to $500 per month and must be taken for life, since patients who stop it will gain weight again.

However, with the arrival of generic drugs in 2026, at a lower cost, he hopes that patients who are waiting for surgeries, transplants or fertility treatments because of their overweight can be considered.

– With Héloïse Archambault