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Obesity Drug Costs: Limited-Time Use, Then Shift To Cheaper Maintenance Floated By Sen. Cassidy

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

Sen. Bill Cassidy and an obesity advocacy group suggest studies test whether obesity patients could be switched to a cheaper maintenance medicine or diet after their initial weight loss on GLP-1s. Approval of Lilly’s Zepbound is a reminder of the expected surge in utilization for the class.

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Sen. Cassidy thinks there should be more to weight loss picture than GLP-1 drugs. • Source: Shutterstock

Senator Bill Cassidy, R-LA, and an obesity drug advocate raised the possibility that the US health system could deal with the potential costs of new anti-obesity drugs by using them for a limited period to achieve needed weight-loss and then switching patients to more inexpensive maintenance tools at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit.

Such a concept, if it proved feasible, could be attractive to the government and other payers in the health system given the large number of Americans potentially eligible for treatment with GLP-1 agonists

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