Physicians Concerned Weight Loss Drugs May Perpetuate Inequities

Some physicians are concerned that high demand and prices for high-profile obesity drugs are keeping them out of reach for many who need them, according to a recent Reuters report.

“Are we going to have coverage for the majority of us, or is this just going to be a medication for the elites who can pay out of pocket?” remarked Andres Acosta, MD, PhD, a bariatrician at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, in the article.

According to the piece, prices for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, both GLP-1 agonists, exceed $1000 per month in the United States. Moreover, Wegovy shortages have steered many patients seeking to lose weight toward Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic because it features the same active ingredient. The situation has not only caused Ozempic shortages but also appears to have inspired new insurance hurdles. Current evidence suggests patients using the drugs will need to stay on them indefinitely to maintain weight loss.

Both private and government health insurers are denying or delaying use of the obesity drugs, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, physicians are left balancing which of their patients would benefit most from the medications—and trying to figure out how they can access them.

Research by Lauren Eberly, MD, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has found lower use of GLP-1 agonists for diabetes among privately insured patients who are Black, Asian, and Hispanic compared with White. Dr Eberly is currently researching coverage trends for drugs used for weight loss.

“We’re really worried about the inequities that this will perpetuate as a direct result of inaccessibility of these medicines,” she said, “especially for more marginalized groups.”

Reference

Gershberg M. Weight-loss drugs: who, and what, are they good for? Reuters. January 2, 2024. Accessed January 12, 2024.