Story at a glance Almost 70 percent of Americans don’t think that new weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy will have much of an impact on the country’s obesity rate, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. The U.S. obesity rate has climbed over the past 20 years, with about 42 percent…
Employees would rather have coverage for a new class of weight-loss drugs than unlimited paid time off or child care assistance, according to results of a new survey commissioned by a health-care provider.
The Senate Health Committee will hold a hearing next week on the diabetes epidemic in the U.S., committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. Sanders, who earlier this year interrogated drug manufacturers about the high cost of insulin, told The Hill the hearing will focus broadly on the underlying causes of the rise in diabetes,…
Drugs like Ozempic, which have become increasingly popular for losing weight, heighten the risk of certain severe gastrointestinal problems including stomach paralysis, according to a large study published Thursday.The GLP-1 agonists were associated with an almost four times increased risk of stomach paralysis, a nine times higher risk of pancreatitis and four times greater risk of bowel obstruction.
The Atlantic
What Americans Don’t Know About Their Medications
People who have faced debilitating side effects say we need better warnings on drugs. The FDA hasn’t been enthusiastic.
The Atlantic
A few days ago, an unusual offer landed in my inbox. “Do you want to interview this man before he ends his life?” read the subject line of the message sent by Linda Martin, who, out of concerns for her safety, would tell me only that she is in her 60s and lives on the West Coast.
She said that John Fratti, a 50-year-old former pharmaceutical-sales representative, was “making plans to end his life in the next few weeks because he can no longer stand the pain caused by Fluoroquinolone Toxicity.” That’s the term Martin and others use to describe the side effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, a class of drugs that includes ciprofloxacin, sometimes called Cipro, and levofloxacin, or Levaquin, which are taken for severe bacterial infections. She added that Fratti had already o