Obesity Drugs Expand Health Care Use
Weight-loss drugs “are expanding [the] use of U.S. health care” as more patients with obesity-related conditions are prescribed the medications (Reuters, subscription).
What’s going on: “An exclusive analysis of hundreds of thousands of electronic patient records by health data firm Truveta found slight, but measurable, increases in first-time diagnoses of sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes within 15 days of an initial prescription for a GLP-1 weight-loss drug between 2020 and 2024.”
- Some patients who are overweight or obese “are being prescribed the drugs to lose weight and become eligible for services including organ transplants, fertility treatments or knee replacements, according to interviews with seven doctors and five other health experts.”
New patients: One New York physician said her endocrinology practice is “seeing new patients” now, as a population that may have felt stigmatized by the health care system becomes healthier and more at ease seeking treatment for other conditions.
Significant results: Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro have shown an average weight loss of at least 15% of patients’ body weights.
Impact on the system: While the larger effect of the drugs on the health care system remains to be seen, new diagnoses made because patients felt more comfortable seeking treatment could mean “early detection … [that] save[s] costs down the line,” according to one health care expert.
- One obesity medicine specialist “said she has referred obesity patients for long-delayed pap smears and other routine care, including colonoscopies. Many overweight patients avoid doctors and routine tests for years due to the stigma and bias they often encounter, she said.”