Trump broadens access to weight-loss drugs
Americans will have better access to popular weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Wegovy after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, but access for patients has been a persistent problem due to their cost (about $500 per month for higher doses) and inadequate insurance coverage. More than 100 million adult Americans are obese, according to federal estimates.
According to the management, the coverage of drugs will be expanded to Medicare patients starting next year, and some lower prices will be gradually introduced for patients who are not covered by insurance.
Starting doses of the new pill versions of the treatments would also cost $149 a month if approved.
“(It) will save the lives and improve the health of millions of Americans,” Trump said in his Oval Office announcement, calling GLP-1s a “fat drug.”
Thursday’s announcement is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to rein in rising drug prices to address voters’ concerns about the cost of living.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca agreed to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicaid after an executive order last May that set a deadline for drugmakers to cut prices or face new limits on how much the government will pay.
Obesity drugs work by targeting hormones in the gut and brain that affect appetite and feelings of fullness. In clinical studies, they helped people lose 15 percent to 22 percent of their body weight.
“Trump is a friend of forgotten Americans,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said at Thursday’s announcement. “Obesity is a disease of poverty, and these drugs were largely only available to wealthy people.”
(Obesity rates for middle-income Americans are slightly higher than those with the lowest and highest incomes, according to 2017-2020 data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
Kennedy had previously expressed skepticism about GLP-1s but was full of praise for Trump for pushing to help a broader swath of Americans access the drug.
The drug price announcement came days after Democrats won elections in races across the country. According to the findings from the AP voter survey, the biggest concern of the voters was economic concerns.
The White House has sought to scale back the previous Democratic administration’s price-cutting efforts as a tribute to the pharmaceutical industry.
A senior administration official briefing reporters ahead of Thursday’s Oval Office announcement claimed instead that Trump had struck a deal that would ensure Americans would not unfairly fund the pharmaceutical industry’s innovation.
Doctors who treat patients for obesity say help is needed to improve access. Dr. Leslie Golden says she has nearly 600 patients receiving one of these treatments, and at least 75 percent have difficulty affording them.
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