[no_wizard]

I heard a wild, unsubstantiated take on a podcast the other day, that effectively went like this:

with all of these proven weight loss drugs, the government should be mandated to have them prescribed free of charge to the consumer (IE, either the government pays or insurance pays), because if you look at the cost of obesity related illnesses / complications vs the cost of the drugs, the drugs will cost less.

I have no idea if that ends up being true (it feels right but doesn't mean it is right, at least in current pricing mechanisms) but I agree with the sentiment. This is a class of drug that could dramatically alter society for the better and it should be covered akin to how vaccines are covered.

EDIT: I'm not one to respond to comments via an edit, but I feel like everyone missed what I said here: I agree with the sentiment, and I think drugs like this should be covered in the same class as vaccines (e.g. how its a net good for society to have it generally available to those in need). I didn't say we should carte blanche cover them in the manner that was suggested, merely, I understand the sentiment, and the government, much like it has with vaccinations, should do what it can to make them generally available to those who need them and lower the cost.

[cjbgkagh]

The US Semaglutide patent ends in 2 years, it is cheap and can already be bought in bulk. There is absolutely no reason for it to be expensive apart from the broken US medical system.

[s1artibartfast]

Hard to see the math working out. 70% of Americans are overweight. Wegovy costs are about $12,000 and the average household income is like $70k. We are talking about half the federal budget spending on wegovy

[alistairSH]

Only because BigPharma uses the US to reap massive profits.

EU pricing is more like $200-$300/month.

[s1artibartfast]

Sure, but we are talking about the US. If we are thinking outside the box, anything is possible. The US government could negotiate in bulk, licenses the IP, or even go in with the army and comandeer the factory and scientists.

[glp1guide]

I don't think it needs to go that far -- one of the effects of capitalism is indeed competition-induced reduction of prices. Pharma is a bit different, but with time prices should go down and availability should go up.

Also note that the battle of insurance coverage of the drug is raging -- many do not pay retail for the drug, and Wegovy improving heart conditions opens up another path to needing to be covered by insurers.

On the fringes, I read (can't remember where) that some other large pharmas in the US are working on their own formulations that trigger GLP1, and abroad India and China have taken an interest (there are quite a few Chinese research papers floating around on the effects).

[sneak]

By the same logic, one could argue that the government should ban fried foods, as the lost profits to the food industry would be outweighed by the medical benefits.

I don’t agree with that line of thinking.

[silverquiet]

I'm pretty sure the most profitable course of action is just to let those who are obese suffer and die from the consequences. As ever, mixing human morbidity and mortality with a profit incentive gets macabre fast.