Considering the widespread prevalence of obesity and its impact on the quality of both life and work, looks like US employers are beginning to see weight loss drug coverage as a tangible business benefit
‘About one-third of U.S. employer health plans are offering coverage of GLP-1 drugs for both diabetes management and weight loss, up from about 26% last year, according to a survey of global employers released on Thursday by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.’
According to Morgan Stanley only 40 million Americans ‘can currently access GLP-1 drugs for weight loss through their healthcare plans,’ out of 110 million obese Americans
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/employer-coverage-weight-loss-drugs-rises-sharply-survey-finds-2024-06-13/
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Yes, especially now that obesity is increasingly labeled as a disease. There has been a noticeable increase in release, usage, and advertisement of obesity drugs, particularly Wegovy and Ozempic. Novo Nordisk has been supporting the medical profession actively for the past several years.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-obesity-novonordisk-doctors/
The 60 Minutes episode with Dr. Stanford back in January of 2023 pushed the disease story so well that many who had previously only anecdotally heard of Ozempic, if at all, now become aware of new options. It is quite interesting of course that Dr. Stanford and the second White Coat authority on the program (who also supports the disease idea of obesity) are both on the Novo Nordisk payroll, as was the 60 Minutes segment who was a sponsor of the program.
But the Supremes have ruled that Conflict of Interest no longer exists, though, right? Nothing to see here.
Pete
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Hi Pete - thanks for your response
Heavy sponsoring of studies by reputed academics and medical professionals is SOP in many technology-driven industries, as it is in pharma and medical devices.
‘Key Opinon Leaders’ /‘Thought leaders’ control the state of the art in every industry where technology is a key driver. No advancement is possible unless these leaders back it.
Fact is these industry professionals are putting their reputations and careers on the line by researching and endorsing potentially game changing innovations
Given the potentially debilitating/ fatal consequences of unchecked obesity, wouldn’t you much rather have such innovations studied and endorsed by obesity experts instead of by dodgy ‘influencers’ and other such social media geniuses who are fomenting hysteria about weight loss drugs?
Hey Pete. Just to clarify, do you not think that obesity reduces lifespan or confers morbidity risk to patients? Thinking specifically with regards to cad/hf/dm/dvt/pe/osa/htn/hld etc
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