In a question addressed to the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, the Socialist parliamentary group wants to know if the government is considering reviewing this decision, given the “concerns expressed” by several experts and associations about the implications of this change for the “multidisciplinary approach to diabetes treatment and stroke prevention.”
At issue is a decree, which came into effect on August 8, which establishes that only physicians specializing in endocrinology and nutrition, internal medicine, paediatrics, and general and family medicine are authorized to prescribe interstitial glucose monitoring sensors and medications in the GLP-1 receptor agonist class (semaglutide, dulaglutide, liraglutide, and exenatide).
This class of drugs includes Ozempic, developed to treat type 2 diabetes but also being used to combat obesity and aid weight loss.
The socialists claim that this decree, which “seeks to respond to a recurring problem of sensor shortages,” could have the effect of “preventing access to medications that have clear cardiovascular benefits” and become a “blockade to access to necessary medications for a very significant group of the population.”
“Creating barriers and limiting access for users should not be the path taken; this is a consensus among experts,” states the question submitted through parliament.
The Socialist Party (PS) also calls this change “another obstacle to users’ access to the healthcare they need,” warning of the risk of “resulting in irreparable damage to desired health outcomes by duplicating procedures and resources to access therapy.”
The Socialists emphasize that “it is the State’s obligation” to ensure that diabetics can “fully and without obstacles benefit from the technologies necessary for the control and treatment of the disease,” and also question the Government about whether “the scientific societies in question were consulted” so that “the most appropriate measures could be taken.”
Regarding this change, the Brazilian Society of Cardiology advocated for cardiologists to be able to prescribe diabetes medications, warning that the exclusion of the specialty in the new ordinance compromises the prevention of cardiovascular events.
Nephrology and Transplant associations urged the Ministry of Health to review the ordinance, warning that the situation could “harm thousands of patients.”
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