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Drugs like Ozempic can help weight loss, but not without ethical and health concerns

caption: Boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter. Ozempic was originally approved by the FDA to treat people with Type 2 diabetes — who risk serious health consequences without medication. In recent months, there has been a spike in demand for Ozempic, or semaglutide, due to its weight loss benefits, which has led to shortages. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter. Ozempic was originally approved by the FDA to treat people with Type 2 diabetes — who risk serious health consequences without medication. In recent months, there has been a spike in demand for Ozempic, or semaglutide, due to its weight loss benefits, which has led to shortages. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

By now, most people have heard of injectable weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro — developed half a decade ago to treat diabetes and now approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

It turned out that they were effective for that purpose and as a way to lose weight. So much so that people were willing to shell out about $1,000 a month for off-label prescriptions for the shots, which were in such high demand that some diabetics who relied on them couldn’t get them.

Though they’re now approved for weight loss, some, including New York University bio-ethicist Art Caplan, are raising ethical concerns around the expensive drugs for people who might not need them — something which can ultimately cause soaring medical costs, questionable benefits and an easy-fix ‘cure’ that doesn’t include healthy lifestyle choices.

Caplan joins host Robin Young to discuss the issue.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2024 NPR]

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