Many cannot afford the breakthrough medications that are said to cure severe obesity. The reason is that the medicines are not subsidized by the state. Carina Rehn has to pay SEK 2,500 every month for her injections.
– I feel sorry for those who have no opportunity at all, she says.
– This medication is the best thing that has happened to me in my entire life. I have lost 22 kilos since I started the medication eight months ago. I am much more mobile now, I have the stamina and can play and climb with the children and jump on the trampoline, says Carina Rehn.
Already at school age, it started for Carina Rehn. She was a little rounder than the others, something that students took the liberty of commenting on. In the quest to become thin, she counted all the calories and weighed her food, but this instead led to eating disorders, binge eating and bulimia.
– There have only been problems with my weight all along. I have never felt satisfied. I’ve never understood what everyone’s talking about when they say they’re well fed. I have been able to eat two portions, and then eat again an hour later.
Could revolutionize the treatment of obesity
The medicine that Carina takes suppresses the feelings of hunger and studies are currently underway on new and perhaps even more effective medicines that the researchers believe will change the game plan for how obesity or obesity can be cured.
– As I see it, this could be a revolution in the treatment of obesity. We will reduce the pressure on healthcare, we will reduce healthcare costs and we will increase health, says Claude Marcus, professor and pediatrician at Karolinska Institutet.
Costs several thousand Swedish kroner a month
The only problem is that the medicines currently available on the market are not free. Each month, Carina pays SEK 2,500 for her syringes.
– It hurts that the wallet is also getting thinner, she says. It is the partner who gets to save money for the children, for their future.
It is the TLV dental and pharmaceutical benefits agency that has come to the conclusion that Carina’s medicine should not be subsidized by the state.
– In that case, we judged that the benefit of the treatment was not great enough in relation to the price that the company wanted to charge, and therefore we rejected the subsidy application, says Per-Henrik Zingmark, head of unit at TLV.
Carina Rehn thinks it will be a class issue.
– I’m very grateful that I have the opportunity to prioritize my well-being, but I feel sorry for those who don’t have the opportunity at all, because there are many who don’t, she says.