November 21, 2024 — Is the glass half full? Or 99% empty? The metaphorical glass in this case is the number of people with a legitimate indication for the remarkable prescription drug generically known as semaglutide. Ivy Shi et al presented an elegant answer at the AHA Scientific Sessions this week and simultaneously published it in JAMA Cardiology. They […]
May 30, 2024 — In a world that systematically denies people access to obesity medicines, the rush of reports that people frequently stop taking them makes us wonder. How does this qualify as news? Why do reporters repeatedly paint a misleading picture of non-compliant patients? Yet, health reporters keep offering up this narrative. The latest prompt for this is […]
February 17, 2024 — Reporting for Reuters, Robin Respaut and Chad Terhune tell us that prescription data in the U.S. reveals increasing use of semaglutide for obesity in adolescents. Does this signal a huge surge in pediatric obesity treatment? Or merely a small uptick from almost negligible access to care? That all depends on the story you want to […]
September 17, 2023 — OMG. How can we possibly cope with the costs of treating obesity with these expensive new obesity meds? This question seems to be on the lips of many who pay for health plans. But a new study in Nature Communications turns that question on its head. How can we afford to continue withholding effective treatment for […]
May 9, 2023 — With all the sensational reporting about semaglutide and tirzepatide for obesity – often with the emphasis on weight loss – you might think a revolution is underway. Yes, it is coming. But the truth is that it hasn’t even started yet. At present, for a number of reasons, we are barely scratching the surface of […]
March 14, 2023 — Recently, we have written much about the high cost of obesity medicines, limited coverage under health plans, and the need for change. This is a very real problem and glaciers melt faster (sad to say) than policy makers make progress on this. But absurd arguments about the cost of obesity care do not help. In […]
March 13, 2021 — Eight years have passed since the American Medical Association decided obesity really is a complex chronic disease. For treating this disease, we have more options now. We have a handful of anti-obesity medicines that are new. A new study in Obesity Surgery tells us their use has more than doubled over the last decade. So […]
