Ozempic

Weight-loss medications tamp down hunger — often dramatically — causing some people to lose the pleasure of communing over food at a festive family meal.

Many welcome what they say is greater control over what they eat. “I don’t care about the bread as much. I still eat what I enjoy,” says one Tampa area woman who lost more than 200 pounds taking Mounjaro.

The drugs can slow digestion so much that it puts patients at increased risk for pulmonary aspiration, which can cause dangerous lung damage, infections and even death, says one anesthesiologist.

Novo Nordisk focuses on Black lawmakers and opinion leaders to spread the message that obesity is a chronic disease — worth treating at a cost of $1,000 or more a month.

Interest drops if users potentially have to deal with weekly injections, lack of insurance coverage or a need to continue the medications indefinitely to avoid regaining weight.

New research shows high-dose oral versions of the medication in the blockbuster drugs Ozepmic and Wegovy may work as well as the popular injections — even in hard-to-treat people with diabetes.

Agency officials say they have received reports of problems after patients used versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the brand-name medications, that have been compounded or mixed in pharmacies.

Drug shortages are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that could mean more treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription.

There's already a huge demand for existing weight-loss drugs, so the new medication is highly anticipated. Obesity affects an estimated 650 million adults globally.

Online platforms are overflowing with testimonials for GLP-1s. The drugs show promise for inducing weight loss, but many aren’t FDA-approved for that use.