Many insurance companies won't cover the expensive drugs, and even among patients who can afford them, a massive shortage is limiting availability.
The drugs mimic a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1, which tells the pancreas to secrete moreto control blood sugar. They’re not new to medicine; they’ve been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for years. But when doctors noticed that patients also lost weight, drugmakers got on board, offering the medications in higher dosages specifically to treat obesity.It’s still unclear exactly how the drugs help with weight loss.
A newer GLP-1 medication called tirzepatide, also a weekly injectable, appears to be even more effective. A study published last week in thefound it helped patients lose more than 20 percent of their weight over 72 weeks. It all comes down to money, said Dr. W. Scott Butsch, the director of obesity medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.Insurance companies push back against coverage for weight loss drugs, arguing that obesity is not a disease but a behavioral problem, Butsch said.
Qamara Edwards, left, weighed more than 300 pounds when she enrolled in a clinical trial for Wegovy in 2018.“I like to eat bad food and drink a lot,” said Edwards, who says she faced those challenges daily working in the restaurant industry.
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