February 11, 2025 — Was the multi-million dollar spend by Hims & Hers on a Super Bowl ad the last gasp of a doomed business? Or was it a clever play for regulatory latitude that could keep them going? Conventional wisdom suggests that GLP-1 compounders should be nearing the end of their rope. But some political observers think they […]
February 8, 2025 — A telehealth business has a slick, defiant commercial for their compounded weight loss medication ready to run during the Super Bowl tomorrow. More than a few doctors are definitely not amused. They are not the only ones. Two senators have written to the acting head of the FDA to say that caution and fair balance […]
January 14, 2025 — It’s too dangerous, say some. In fact, quite sincerely, smart physicians have told us that the widespread use of compounded semaglutide represents a public health crisis. Others have told us that, yes, there are risks. But because of drug pricing and health insurance practices, it is the only option for many patients and they have […]
December 30, 2024 — This year is rapidly winding down and already, our gaze is shifting toward expectations for the coming year. So before that shift is complete and we start making predictions for 2025, let’s check the scorecard for the expectations we had for 2024. A year ago, we put forward predictions of five hot topics for the […]
December 26, 2024 — This has been quite a year. We’ve seen endless death and destruction in Ukraine and the Middle East. People expressed discontent with the status quo in elections all over the world. But most notably for our readers – more than 100,000 of you this year – the progress on obesity and health has been nothing […]
December 20, 2024 — Are we indeed reaching the end of the on-again, off-again supply shortage for GLP-1 obesity medicines? That seems to be what FDA signaled yesterday. The agency posted a brief statement, not only noting its determination that the tirzepatide shortage is “resolved,” but also saying the national GLP-1 supply has begun to stabilize. FDA is looking at […]
December 16, 2024 — The closing days of 2024 give us a moment to reflect on the stories that defined this year in obesity and health. It’s been a big year, with no shortage of news on this subject. But the major themes stand out very clearly. Health Outcomes Beyond Weight Loss This was the year that objective evidence […]
December 12, 2024 — These two companies have a history of surprising us and they’ve done it again – this time in a joint initiative. Lilly announced a bold move yesterday to distribute their lower priced vials of tirzepatide for obesity through the telehealth company known as Ro. A spokesperson for Lilly explained the arrangement by saying: “Ro is […]
December 4, 2024 — Why can’t they just go away? When compounded GLP-1 medicines started showing up two years ago, they seemed like a temporary distraction. In The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino described a dubious concoction of semaglutide she obtained from a compounding pharmacy for herself to mix and inject. “No thanks,” we wrote, hoping this sketchy business would […]
November 24, 2024 — FDA is in a quandary about compounding of the new obesity drugs, semaglutide and tirzepatide. The U.S. President-Elect has a nominee to lead FDA with a connection to this compounding kerfuffle. Marty Makary is a surgeon and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also Chief Medical Officer for the telehealth company […]
