By Deborah Bailey, AFRO Contributing Editor, dbailey@afro.com
A brand new class of weight reduction medicines are bringing hope to the greater than 70 % of Individuals who’re labeled as medically obese (BMI = 25-29.9) or overweight (BMI = 30 or higher).
The weight problems fee of Black Individuals clocking in on the highest amongst U.S. ethnic teams, in accordance with the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, many are hoping for assist in shedding cussed extra weight.
Zepbound, simply permitted by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration, is the most recent of a sequence of what the medical discipline has named GLP-1 medicines. The drug has been permitted to be used as a weight reduction therapy for obese or overweight adults with at the least one different related well being situation. Manufactured by Eli Lilly, the drug is at present prescribed for diabetes sufferers below the identify Monjouro.
Zepbound, might be obtainable by the tip of this 12 months and joins Wegovy, permitted by the FDA for weight reduction in 2022, as a brand new medically prescribed agent within the battle for weight reduction.
Each medicines are injectable and promise sufferers can lose a major proportion of physique weight with continued use of the product.
Physicians like Harvard Medical College’s Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, need to be sure that potential sufferers join with a talented medical supplier and keep away from different sources. Counterfeit variations of the brand new GLP weight reduction medication have been reported nationwide.
“These medicines ought to solely be administered by these with expertise in prescribing these brokers,” Cody Stanford stated.
She advises sufferers to speak with their doctor about negative effects of the treatment, together with nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea on the delicate facet and extra important and even life threatening well being issues documented in uncommon circumstances.
The medication aren’t for everybody, Cody Stanford says, however for a lot of Black Individuals who’ve struggled with the illness of weight problems, she permits that the brand new GLP-1 medicines might be a sport changer.
“The FDA has positioned these brokers below rigorous testing to find out their security for the inhabitants at massive. They could be a useful gizmo for these with the continual illness of weight problems, they usually can significantly be a useful gizmo with racial and ethnic minority populations, who disproportionately have larger charges of weight problems,” Cody Stanford informed the AFRO.
Cody Stanford, is considered one of America’s foremost authorities on weight problems. She was one of many first physicians to categorise weight problems as a continual illness, relatively than a way of life or behavioral alternative of the particular person dwelling with weight problems.
Dialogue of the brand new GLP-1 medicines to deal with weight reduction, public coverage and the Black group started heating up this summer season when Congress launched The Deal with and Scale back Weight problems Act of 2023, in each the U.S. Senate and Home of Representatives. The laws would enable Medicare to pay for weight-loss medication together with the brand new GLP-1 medicines.
At this fall’s Congressional Black Caucus Basis assembly in Washington D.C., Cody Stanford participated in a panel discussing the necessity for the brand new weight problems medication, sponsored by Wegovy’s producer Novo Nordisk.
Wegovy has an inventory value exceeding $1,300 a month with out medical protection. Zepbound’s press launch boasts that it’s obtainable at a decrease value than Wegovy, however nonetheless lists at greater than $1,000 for a one month provide, with out insurance coverage.
In response to Eli Lilly’s press launch, Zepbound might be introducing a financial savings card permitting eligible customers to pay as little as $25 for a one month or three month prescription, however these financial savings are short-term.
Roland Martin, Roland Martin Unfiltered, devoted a March 2023 present to the subject “Weight problems in America” sponsored by Novo Nordisk.
Tiffani Bell Washington, Board licensed doctor specializing in Grownup Psychiatry, Youngster and Adolescent Psychiatry, Way of life Medication and Weight problems Medication, spoke on to the problem of Medicare protection for the brand new weight problems medicines on Martin’s present.
“Medicare will not be overlaying these anti-obese medicines,” Bell Washington stated. “A few years in the past they thought weight problems was a way of life drawback.” she stated.
“However the issue is past that. It’s a well being challenge so it actually does have to be lined and if Medicare covers it often different folks comply with,” Bell Washington stated.
Supporters of Medicare protection of weight reduction medication defend pushing Congress to assist Medicare protection of the brand new GLP-1 medication.
“The bipartisan Deal with and Scale back Weight problems Act, would assist seniors who are suffering from weight problems achieve Medicare protection and entry to very important medicines and behavioral therapies that might assist them reside a more healthy and longer life,” stated Congressman Paul Ruiz, (D-CA-25) an emergency room doctor who launched the laws this summer season.
