Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. We can tell, in part, because the official mascots are racing about the grounds at top speed and the number of cars and trucks passing outside our window is picking up. But this is to be expected, yes? So as we collect our thoughts about the day ahead, we are firing up the coffee kettle for another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is chocolate raspberry. As always, you are invited to join us. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest to get your started on your own journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck, and do keep in touch. …
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are displaying more than a dozen studies at ObesityWeek, one of the largest conferences on obesity, that together carry the message: Our blockbuster weight loss treatments will be worth it for society, STAT notes. But experts point out that much of this company-funded research does not include the cost of the drugs themselves, which sell at more than $10,000 per year in the U.S. and are meant to be taken indefinitely. Health insurers have been slow to grant wide access to obesity treatments, concerned that the vast amount of people eligible to take them, along with their high price, could lead to significant financial strain.
Meanwhile, people with obesity often go underrepresented in drug development trials, a critical gap that researchers say leaves drugmakers and doctors unsure of efficacy or risks in that patient population, STAT reports. Researchers reviewed 201 drug-approval studies in clinicaltrials.gov that occurred in 2022 and found 64% did not include weight- or BMI-based inclusion/exclusion criteria, which does not ensure the representation of people with obesity in these studies. Moreover, of the 72 studies that did have weight- or BMI-based inclusion/exclusion criteria, 75% of the trials used the criteria to exclude patients with obesity.
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