Posts Tagged ‘access to care’

The Rise of Forced Choices Between Money and Health

February 18, 2024 — Who knew that financial toxicity was a thing? Perhaps like us, you have merely thought of it as the financial burden of healthcare – without assigning it the status of a medical complication that dysfunctional healthcare causes. But recent publications are making it ever more clear that people living with chronic diseases are having to […]

Patent Thickets to Boost Obesity Medicine Prices

February 9, 2024 — Are patent thickets boosting the prices of obesity medicine prices and putting these important medical advances out of reach for everyone but the wealthy and well insured? A new paper in JAMA this week suggests this is true – at least in part. Rasha Alhiary and colleagues explain: “Manufacturers have secured long periods of market […]

Make Believe About Obesity Blended with a Social Agenda

February 3, 2024 — We confess to a significant amount of fatigue with a social agenda related to size and weight getting overlaid on the medical concern of obesity. The bickering of people who want to make believe that obesity is a purely social issue can be too much to bear. This has been one of those weeks. Moral […]

The Essence of Autonomy in an Obesity Bill of Rights

February 1, 2024 — Yesterday, the National Consumers League and the National Council on Aging introduced the Bill of Rights for People with Obesity. At the heart of eight simple points in this document is a demand of respect for the dignity and autonomy of people living with obesity. 1. The Right to Accurate, Clear, Trusted, and Accessible Information […]

Who Gets and Fills Prescriptions for Obesity Medicines?

January 31, 2024 — Obesity is the most prevalent chronic disease in America, so you might think that prescriptions for obesity medicines are relatively common – but only if you are unfamiliar with prevailing attitudes about these medicines. Because in fact, even in a large health system known for excellent care in cardiometabolic health, these prescriptions are rather rare. […]

Incentives for Metabolic Surgery in Response to GLP-1 Medicines

January 17, 2024 — Over the past year, as the world has embraced GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide for obesity, we have heard much speculation about dire prospects for the future of metabolic surgery. Stock prices dropped earlier this year for medical device companies with big investments in bariatric surgery when Intuitive Surgical announced they were seeing a slowdown in […]

Liverpool: The Make-Believe Approach to Obesity

January 14, 2024 — Following in America’s footsteps, the UK applies something of a make-believe approach to dealing with obesity. With furrowed brow, policy makers acknowledge that obesity is undermining the health of the nation – not to mention the financial status of the vaunted National Health Service. The consequences of untreated obesity are multiplying so fast that it’s […]

Will GLP-1 Medicines Widen the Economic Rift in Health?

January 8, 2024 — Right now, the promise of GLP-1 medicines for obesity, though revolutionary, is serving only to widen the economic rift in health. People with extraordinary wealth or generous health insurance plans receive the health benefits that flow from treating obesity effectively – which include a longer life, fewer strokes, and fewer heart attacks. Others are consigned […]

LillyDirect Poised to Shake Up Access to Obesity Care

January 5, 2024 — Eli Lilly and Company has taken the unusual step of starting a direct to consumer clinical care and pharmacy program for obesity, diabetes, and migraine. If you have any doubt that LillyDirect will shake up the landscape for access to obesity care, just ask the folks at WeightWatchers. Their stock dropped by 11% yesterday when […]

Obesity Care: A Roadmap for Employers

January 3, 2024 — One of the big trends for this year will be increasing access to obesity care. That means more and more employers will be adding obesity care to the their health benefit plans. Yes, there will be much squawking about the list price for advanced obesity medicines. That’s perfectly normal and good. But the fact is […]