US Severe Obesity Rate Swells
About 1 in 10 of survey respondents indicated they are severely obese. It's too soon to know whether obesity treatments and drugs will ease the problem, researchers say. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's CEO is expected to testify today in a Senate panel hearing about the high cost of weight loss drugs.
AP:
Severe Obesity Is On The Rise In The US
Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S., but the proportion of those with severe obesity — especially women — has climbed since a decade ago, according to new government research. The U.S. obesity rate is about 40%, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. Nearly 1 in 10 of those surveyed reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report severe obesity. (Aleccia, 9/24)
On weight loss drugs —
Roll Call:
Analysts Say Market Forces Will Lower Cost Of Obesity Drugs
The CEO of Novo Nordisk is set to appear before a Senate panel Tuesday to be grilled on the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. But health economists say it’s unlikely that congressional pressure will be the driving force to get the prices down. (DeGroot, 9/23)
Reuters:
Novo Says Ozempic To Be Eligible For US Price Negotiations In Less Than A Year
Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic will be eligible for U.S. government's price negotiations in less than a year based on current criteria, the Danish drugmaker's CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in his written testimony on Monday. Jorgensen is set to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday in a hearing focused on U.S. prices for its widely popular Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy. (9/23)
The Washington Post:
Weight-Loss Drugs Are Supposed To Be Forever. Until They Run Out.
Recurrent shortages, shifting insurance coverage, patient whims and a lack of longer-term guidance about side effects and dosing have forced doctors and patients to make up as they go what quantity of drugs to take and when. It amounts to a human experiment of trial and error. (Cha, 9/24)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Patients Are Turning To Med Spas To Address ‘Ozempic Face’
Those who use drugs like Ozempic — either for medical reasons or aesthetic ones — often find the weight loss leads to something now called “Ozempic face.” The result: medical spas are seeing an uptick in requests from clients using medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. (Wellington, 9/23)
