Am I Eligible for the Wegovy Pill? Criteria Explained

Eligibility for the Wegovy pill comes down to two questions: where your BMI sits, and whether you have any weight-related health conditions that change the threshold. The licensed criteria are clear — a BMI of 30 or above, or between 27 and 30 with at least one weight-related condition — but the criteria are the start of the assessment, not the end of it. Plenty of people who meet the BMI numbers are not suitable for other reasons, and establishing that properly is what separates a clinical assessment from a checkout page.

This guide explains the criteria, the conditions that lower the threshold, who is not suitable regardless of BMI, and what the assessment at our Bruntsfield clinic actually involves. For the full picture of the medicine itself, see our complete guide to the Wegovy pill in Edinburgh.

The licensed criteria

The Wegovy pill is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI between 27 and 30 where at least one weight-related health condition is present. These are the same criteria as the Wegovy injection and Mounjaro, which reflects how regulators think about these medicines: the treatment threshold is about health risk, not appearance, and the risk calculation changes when weight is already contributing to a medical condition.

BMI is a blunt instrument and we treat it as one — it is a screening threshold, not a verdict on your health. But it is the threshold the licence sets, so it is where every legitimate assessment starts. If you want to check where you stand before booking, the NHS BMI calculator gives you the number in under a minute; we then measure properly in clinic, because the difference between a self-estimated 29 and a measured 30.5 changes what we can prescribe.

Conditions that change the threshold

If your BMI sits between 27 and 30, eligibility depends on having at least one weight-related condition. The ones we most commonly see:

This list is not exhaustive, and whether a specific condition qualifies is a clinical judgement made at assessment — bring any diagnosis letters or recent test results you have, and we will take it from there. If you are not sure whether something counts, that is a reason to book, not a reason to rule yourself out.

Who isn’t suitable

Some people should not take the Wegovy pill regardless of BMI. It is not suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for anyone actively trying to conceive — and because of how long semaglutide stays in the body, stopping ahead of a planned pregnancy needs to be discussed and timed properly rather than improvised. A history of certain conditions — including pancreatitis and some thyroid and gallbladder conditions — requires careful review and may rule treatment out. Certain medicines interact, particularly some diabetes treatments, and other oral medicines with their own empty-stomach requirements complicate the tablet specifically. And a history of an eating disorder needs an honest conversation: appetite-suppressing medication is not automatically excluded, but it is never prescribed casually into that history.

We will also decline to prescribe when BMI is below the licensed threshold — including for people close to it who want the medicine “to get ahead of things”. A clinic that treats the licence as negotiable when the card machine is out is telling you something about every other corner it cuts. If we say no, we will explain why and, where appropriate, what the alternatives are.

How the assessment works

The assessment is a structured conversation with an Independent Prescriber pharmacist, not an exam. On arrival you complete a short digital consultation form covering your medical history and current medicines. We measure height and weight in clinic — in both directions, honest measurement protects you — and go through your history, previous weight loss attempts, any previous GLP-1 treatment, and what you are hoping for. If the Wegovy pill is suitable, we talk through the choice between tablet and injection, the dose schedule, and the taking rules — and you leave with your first supply the same day. If it is not suitable, you leave knowing why, which has its own value. The full walkthrough is in what happens at a Wegovy pill consultation.

How to get started

1. Book online. Choose a weight management consultation at our Bruntsfield clinic below.
2. Complete a digital consultation form on arrival. A short form covering your medical history and current medicines, done in clinic when you arrive.
3. Attend your appointment. A proper eligibility assessment with measured BMI and a full history review.
4. Leave with a clear answer. Eligible or not, you leave knowing where you stand — and with your first supply if treatment is prescribed.

Wegovy pill eligibility — your questions answered

Related reading: our complete guide to the Wegovy pill in Edinburgh, what happens at a consultation, and Wegovy pill cost in Edinburgh.