semaglutide

In a leadership shakeup, the diet company says CEO Sima Sistani would leave her role effective immediately. Tara Comonte, a board member and former Shake Shack exec, was named interim chief.

As Congress pushes for Medicare to cover payment for anti-obesity drugs, Denmark — home of Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk — has limited coverage of the drug after cost overruns “emptied all the money boxes in the entire public health system.”

Cheaper versions of Wegovy and Zepbound touted on social media could be fleeting. Copies are legal now because the brand-name drugs are in short supply. But the drugmakers are boosting production.

New research shows that the number of 12- to 25-year-olds who used the GLP-1 medications climbed from about 8,700 a month in 2020 to 60,000 a month in 2023.

The makers of Ozempic and Mounjaro charge charge around $1,000 a month for the drugs, and insurers are reluctant to pick up the tab. Often, low-income patients have to resort to less effective treatments.

But some health experts worry about traditional diet companies and gyms getting in the medication business and believe the drugs will cater to society’s need for quick fixes.

The European Medicines Agency regulatory committee joins the FDA in saying there's no known tie between the semaglutide obesity drugs and suicide.

Health officials say a preliminary review finds no connection between suicidal thoughts and a new class of diabetes and obesity drugs, but they cannot definitively rule out “a small risk may exist."

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.