Semaglutide is in short supply. That is the generic name for a weight loss drug from the class of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. You may have heard of them under the brand names, Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy. Injections are taken weekly, and a month’s supply is around $1,400 if paying cash with a GoodRx coupon. Semaglutide is also prescribed for diabetes that does not respond to other treatments. Obese patients can expect to lose anywhere from 15% to 20% of their body weight. That is why it is in high demand and supplies are tight. The drug class is new and it works. Food cravings fall and patients report forgetting to eat. Oprah even admitted taking it.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Tuesday Links
- George W. Bush’s PEPFAR initiative is credited with saving at least 20 million lives. Nick Kristof calls it “the single best policy of any president in my lifetime.”
- Old people are the wealthiest and most powerful demographic in the United States. Despite this, they are overwhelmingly beneficiaries of the welfare state, have seniority rights in employment, and are a protected class when it comes to anti-discrimination laws. This essay argues that this is a bad thing …..
- Dickens on poverty (and an unkind word for economists).
- People think chatbots are more empathetic than doctors 80% of the time.
Saturday Links
- AEI on the House Republican (but mainly bipartisan) health bill: “There is nothing objectionable in it, but neither is there anything that might deliver transformative improvements over the status quo.”
- Was this fraud? Sold as a program in which a worker’s payroll taxes would provide for his future retirement benefits, Social Security from day one deposited payroll tax revenues in the Treasury’s bank account and used the funds to pay general government expenses.
- Why do the poor commit more crimes than other people? Turns out, it is not because they have less money.
- In California, the typical cost of assisted living is $173 a day, compared to $400 a day for nursing homes.
- Weight-loss drugs do more than fight obesity; they also reduce heart disease.
Our Response to a Critic
HealthSherpa posted a lengthy criticism of our WSJ editorial some time back. Here is our response.