No surprise, UT readers are generally skeptical of prescription drugs and Big Pharma.
But not the GLP-1s, the weight loss and diabetes drugs from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
In a poll this summer, those of you who had taken semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy, from Novo) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro or Zepbound, form Lilly) said you’d had good experiences by a 5-1 margin.
In comments, many of you said the drugs had been nearly miraculous, letting you shed weight that you had fought fruitlessly to lose for years or decades.
So I do not want to overstate the alarm anyone should have about this week’s pieces. That caution applies to both Tuesday’s article about retatrutide, a Lilly GLP that isn’t even approved yet, or yesterday’s about the lack of long-term evidence that tirzepatide reduces heart risks of deaths.
Lack of proof of benefit is not the same as proof of harm. And because tirzepatide reduces weight and blood sugar so effectively, it may well be good for the heart.
Still, I couldn’t help but be struck by the way UT readers jumped to defend the GLPs this week, especially since I tried to be measured in both pieces. These drugs provoke a fervor unlike almost any other.
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(Faster than Dexedrine, stronger than Mounjaro… it’s Unreported Truths. Join the team.)
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I do not mean to imply I believe the GLPs are unsafe. Their risk-benefit ratio still looks very favorable. My point is this: the United States now devotes about 10 percent of all prescription drug spending to these two medicines, and that figure is likely to rise. Globally, tens of millions of people are likely to take these as maintenance medicines for years, if not decades. And they impact the body in powerful ways that physicians and patients still do not fully understand.
Given the medical and commercial importance of the GLPs, we need to push for more large clinical trials on their benefits and potential risks, and not ignore possible red flags, even if they are unlikely.
Falling in love with new medicines is never wise, no matter how good they look at first.
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(Yep, that’s an actual heroin bottle from 1898. Not that I’m saying the GLPs are like heroin, okay? But the mere fact I need to add that disclaimer should tell us all something.)
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So, yes, I’m going to continue to watch the GLPs.
I hope you’ll bear with me.
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(This summer’s poll)
I want to hear what you think of the GLP-1s
I’m working on a depressing piece (or pieces) about meningitis “vaccines.” It grows out of Sunday’s article on the gonorrhea vaccine failure (that trial actually tested a repurposed meningitis B vaccine called Bexsero, on the theory that gonorrhea and meningitis bacteria are closely related).
When something seems too good to be true, you know the rest.
A good friend of mine took them for almost a year. Yes, she lost some weight. She also developed very severe gastroparesis, was hospitalized twice with fecal impaction so severe she hadn’t had a bowel movement in several weeks and they feared small bowel tears. She had to have surgery. She was extremely ill for a long time after stopping it. And now, she has some vision issues. I fear the worst is yet to come for those folks who love the stuff.