Are You Making This Weight Loss Drug Mistake?
They dropped the weight, so they’re dropping their weight-loss drug. Most people taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy do not stay on their prescribed treatment for a minimum of 12 weeks — more than 30% of patients ditch it after just four weeks, a new report from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association finds.
People 18 to 34 years old and those in underserved health regions are more likely to drop out of treatment sooner, according to an analysis of 169,250 health insurance claims made between 2014 and 2023. The report’s authors say it’s “critical” people take these drugs “long enough to achieve clinical success.”
1.7% of Americans were prescribed a semaglutide medication last year, research shows. These drugs mimic GLP-1 — the hormone the body naturally produces after eating — so users feel full faster and longer. People tend to shed 15% to 20% of their weight on these injectable meds, although about ⅓ of users lose only around 10%, according to Columbia University’s Department of Surgery. Most people stop taking the weight-loss drugs within a year, research has found.
Excerpted from the New York Post
