February 24, 2024 — This sounds like a godsend. “Weight loss jabs could be a more effective and cheaper treatment for drug addiction than rehab, a study suggests.” So says the Telegraph of London. The “weight loss jabs” they’re talking about are liraglutide 3 mg daily injections, also known by the brand name of Saxenda. Sad to say, they […]
August 3, 2023 — Message to University of Texas Employees: Continuing to pay for obesity medicines is unsustainable. Message from Novo Nordisk: No comment. Price shocks for advanced obesity medicines are hitting employers. Things are starting to get messy in the marketplace and you can be pretty sure that they will only get messier as makers of obesity medicines […]
September 3, 2022 — ICER – the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review – has released its final report on the effectiveness and value of obesity meds and set a public hearing for September 16. Let’s say it right up front. This private nonprofit is trying to do something that is almost impossibly hard. Making objective sense from the […]
August 1, 2022 — In the New York Times recently, our friend Maya Cohen described her experiences chasing the hoops set before her by health insurance – interfering with medically necessary obesity care. But she did not stop there. She came to the YWM Engage conference to connect with and inspire other advocates for people living with obesity. So […]
December 18, 2021 — Novo Nordisk has a problem. Yesterday its stock lost 16 billion dollars from its value. This is because the company is hitting some bumps in its journey through the uncharted territory of obesity care. For more than a decade now, Novo has been investing in a genuine effort to meet a need for better obesity […]
October 20, 2021 — Day by day, the prospects for treating obesity are getting better. Late on Monday, detailed results from the longest study yet of tirzepatide came out in Lancet. This was a study using this new drug in people with type 2 diabetes, but the average BMI of these patients was 33. None of them had a […]
May 6, 2021 — Weight loss is a minor part of obesity care. It’s blindingly obvious, but most people have a tough time wrapping their heads around this basic fact. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine today tells this story in a very elegant way. It’s all about controlling weight over time. Getting Weight Loss […]
February 11, 2021 — A new study of semaglutide in the New England Journal of Medicine is causing quite a stir in the news. (If you can get past impeachment headlines.) In fact, both experts and headline writers are calling semaglutide for obesity a game changer. Meanwhile, the only sour note comes from the futility school of obesity care. […]
December 5, 2020 — Late on Friday, Novo Nordisk announced FDA approval for Saxenda (liraglutide 3mg) to treat obesity in teens. This marks the second such drug approved in for youth in little more than a week. Setmelanotide received approval last week for children as young as six. Make no mistake about it, we are making progress in expanding […]
November 10, 2020 — Saxenda (liraglutide) is on the brink of becoming a billion dollar drug for obesity. Yet its effectiveness in obesity is modest. On average, a person taking it might expect that their weight would go down by about eight percent. Of course, some people will have a much bigger benefit. But others will have less or […]
