“I get stressed as soon as I give the first injection because there are only three left in the box. I feel like I have to go find a dealer,” jokes Maïre Favé bitterly. This Thursday, November 14, 2024, the resident of Saint-Méen still had three weekly syringe pens of Trulicity 0.75 mg. A precious treatment for her type 2 diabetes that she obtained at the cost of a morally trying quest.
“A month ago, my usual pharmacist in Lesneven told me that he no longer had any and didn’t know when he would receive some. I called 22 pharmacies around my home. There were only two left. But the doses were reserved for their patients. » In desperation, on November 4, Maïre Favé ended up launching a call for help on Facebook: “In case someone has Trulicity lying around at home.” Finally, it was his pharmacist who told him that a colleague from Plouguerneau still had a box. La Mévennaise swallows the 20 km to the town of Abers, with a lighter spirit.
Two weeks without treatment
In the meantime, she had to skip two weeks of injections. Without medication for her diabetes, she endured her symptoms. “Especially the second week. My heart raced after meals. » It’s all the more infuriating since his treatment had a very positive effect: “I’ve been diabetic since 2008, when I was 25 years old. I started with tablet treatments. There, with Trulicity, for the first time in 16 years, my glycated hemoglobin (measurement of glycemic balance in the blood, Editor’s note) was comparable to that of a non-diabetic person.
No match for Elon Musk and the Americans who want to lose three kilos
Doctor Nathalie Roudaut confirms the effectiveness of Trulicity: “It has the property of lowering blood sugar, avoiding hypoglycemia, preventing heart risks and helping you lose weight,” points out the head of the endocrinology department at the University Hospital of Brest. Ideal for diabetics, “or people suffering from obesity”.
The problem is that, like other medications used to treat diabetes, like Ozempic, it also appeals to those who are simply looking to lose three pounds. “This slimming effect has been widely disseminated by influencers on social networks. Even Elon Musk bragged about losing his little belly. »
Except that Donald Trump’s future great advisor is not diabetic, like his many compatriots who are rushing to this miracle product which has arrived in massive quantities on the American market. “This is what led to the global stock shortage since September 2023. France reacted by banning this prescription as a new treatment. General practitioners in Finistère have been made aware of the actions to follow: helping patients find pharmacies or prescribing alternative molecules. »
Pharmacists forced to harass suppliers
Despite these precautions, “like everywhere in the world”, shortage threatens Brittany. “This summer, patients went around the pharmacies in Finistère, on the phone, to find out if they had any left. It’s a source of anxiety. But rather than a shortage, I will talk about tension on the supply,” adds Jean-Jacques Le Bian, co-president of the Finistère pharmacists’ union. “You have to spend hours every day harassing wholesale distributors to order Trulicity (and many other drugs). Not all pharmacies have the financial capacity to advance the money nor the human resources necessary for this relationship with the intermediaries who obtain their supplies from the laboratories. This is why there is a shortage of it in some pharmacies.”
Priority to diabetics for the vast majority of pharmacists and doctors
If he does not swear that pharmacists and even doctors serve and prescribe this antidiabetic to non-diabetic patients who just want to refine their figure (no reimbursement of social security in this case), Jean-Jacques Le Bian assures that the vast majority of their colleagues and health professionals prescribe exclusively to those who need it.
Doctor Nathalie Roudaut agrees: “Honestly, in Brittany, I am not sure that there are many prescriptions for this treatment to lose just three kilos. We remind you that this is outside the condition of its off-label (marketing authorization).”
Voltage drop to come
This means that this drug has undergone a scientific evaluation of its effectiveness on type 2 diabetes but not on the loss of one or two centimeters of waist circumference. “We are unaware of the side effects in this case,” warns the head of the endocrinology department at Brest University Hospital. It is better to try other methods to lose weight. »
This does not exempt us from following the previous recommendation, but competition with people who are diabetic or suffering from obesity should nevertheless begin to become more flexible. “The situation is rather improving. Production increases. Already, the ANSM (medicine agency) has just authorized the prescription of Trulicity as a new treatment. » Maïre Favé can start to breathe better.
