December 14, 2023 — New research from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation offers a pretty clear picture. The research team sums it up succinctly. “Medicare doesn’t cover obesity drugs, but 76% of older adults think it should.” Yes, public pressure is building for access to obesity medicines. Survey Research of Adults 50 to 80 […]
December 13, 2023 — “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead,“ wrote John Maynard Keynes. But Keynes was obviously not a doctor. So his words don’t hold much sway over people who have questions about obesity medicines with impressive short-term results. But for those people, a new study […]
December 11, 2023 — “Prediction is difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” Niels Bohr and Yogi Berra both get credit for this pithy bit of wisdom, but the truth is that the proverbial expression has a Danish origin and an unknown author. So now that wit and wisdom emboldens us to look back at the trends we thought […]
December 6, 2023 — The Zepbound brand of tirzepatide is now available in U.S. pharmacies. This is a big deal because this launch marks the emergence of serious competition for advanced obesity medicines. Even (or perhaps especially) in healthcare, money indeed makes the world go around and one of the best checks on greed is competition. So as Zepbound […]
December 2, 2023 — Dozens of new obesity medicines are in the pipeline for clinical development. Some folks are especially interested in oral medicines that are small molecules. They’re looking for something that offers a sharp contrast with the complex peptide molecules (like semaglutide) given by injection, which are expensive and hard to make. One of the small, orally […]
November 27, 2023 — Truly, access to care for obesity is a tough slog. Not that it’s easy for any health condition. Obesity really is a special case, where medical care that can improve a person’s health often lies just out of reach. Bias about obesity is part of the problem. Fear of mounting medical costs is another. But […]
November 25, 2023 — Two weeks ago, a shift started in the public messaging about semaglutide supply issues that have dogged Novo Nordisk from the very beginning of launching a version of this drug (Wegovy) for obesity. Has the catch-up game in production capacity for obesity and diabetes medicines begun at last in earnest? At the beginning of November, […]
November 17, 2023 — It’s not easy. Getting access to good obesity care and maintaining it is a challenge that is especially frustrating as we see that the options for care are improving. But it seems that health systems right now are rigged to interrupt obesity treatment. An illustration of this comes from a recent study published in Obesity. […]
November 16, 2023 — It was an amazing moment. Hundreds upon hundreds people packed into huge convention hall to hear about the detailed outcomes of the first ever randomized controlled trial to show that treating obesity could prevent heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths. The implications of the SELECT trial for obesity care will be enormous and we had […]
November 9, 2023 — In an era of tremendous change for obesity care, this is certainly a huge milestone. FDA approved tirzepatide for obesity treatment yesterday and put Lilly in the position to offer serious competition to Novo Nordisk. But the question that matters most to us is simple. How will this competition help people seeking to cope with […]
